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In a surprising new report, Attorney General William Barr is expected to sue Alphabet, Google’s parent company, over antitrust laws. Thursday, the news was broken by the New York Times.
The article cited people within the Justice Department who were briefed on the matter. The report suggests that the suit could come as soon as the end of the month. The case was rumored to exist in May, and, reportedly, over 40 lawyers with the Justice Department worked on the case over the summer.
According to the New York Times report, several lawyers also left the case throughout the course of the summer. Some allegedly felt overwhelmed by the pressure of the case, including the demand that the case be filed by the end of September.
By targeting Alphabet, the Justice Department is taking on one of the largest companies in the world.
The Justice Department is likely targeting Alphabet due to ongoing allegations from within the tech world that the company is abusing its position in the market. Google accounts for roughly ninety percent of all searches on the Internet.
In fact, most internet traffic occurs on either Google servers or through Google searches. This has made many in the tech world resentful of the role Google plays as essentially the arbiter of what gets seen on the internet.
At times, the Justice Department has considered similar action against Facebook and Amazon. In their original report, the department noted they would “consider the widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online.”
According to reports from people close to him, the AG is very interested in the Alphabet case. Barr has reportedly asked for daily briefings on the proceedings of the Alphabet case.
The AG has been a controversial figure since his appointment. Some have accused him of acting as President Trump’s personal attorney, while others have defended him as a tough watchdog.
However, his role as an antitrust force in the Alphabet case has made many ambivalent towards him. Many on the left tend to support antitrust laws and favor government intervention in corporate overreach.
Meanwhile, conservatives tend to prefer that businesses operate without much government oversight. As such, Barr’s role in the Alphabet suit has divided some conservative thinkers.
Trump himself seems supportive of the move. In the past, he has noted that Google seems to be biased against him. He noted in 2018 that a search for “Trump News” tended to bring up negative news about him.
