Google isn’t the only behemoth under government watch for potential antitrust violations. The Washington Post’s sources say Amazon is being eyed by both the FTC and Department of Justice, with the former leading the charge.
The move is the result of the FTC and the Department of Justice, the U.S. government’s leading antitrust enforcement agencies, quietly divvying up competition oversight of two of the country’s top tech companies, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the government’s work is confidential. The Justice Department is set to have more jurisdiction over Google, The Washington Post reported on Friday, paving the way for a potential investigation of the search-and-advertising giant.
This is clearly part of the government’s agenda of better policing tech companies. There are no specifics yet from the Justice Department, but recent actions would suggest that an investigation could be underway.
The FTC’s plans for Amazon and the Justice Department’s interest in Google are not immediately clear. But the kind of arrangement brokered between the Justice Department and the FTC typically presages more serious antitrust scrutiny, the likes of which many Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have sought out of fear that tech companies have become too big and powerful.