US launches antitrust investigation into Facebook, Google and Amazon

The agency will examine whether online platforms such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook are abusing their dominance

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced an antitrust investigation into major online platforms, such as Amazon Google and Facebook. The probe will determine whether they are unlawfully stifling competition in a move that many have suspected has been driven by President Trump.

According to the DoJ, the investigation will explore "widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online".

The DoJ's statement continued: "The Department's Antitrust Division is conferring with and seeking information from the public, including industry participants who have direct insight into competition in online platforms, as well as others."

The latest DoJ probe will be led by Makan Delrahim, the agency's assistant attorney general for antitrust.

While the DoJ didn't name any specific company in its statement, a report by the Wall Street Journal claimed that the new investigation will review, in particular, the practices of Google, Amazon and Facebook. These three companies have become globally dominant powers in internet search, retail services and social media respectively.

In recent years, concerns have been growing that these companies have become so large and powerful that they can stifle any potential competition, harming consumers. Facebook, for example, has acquired WhatsApp and Instagram, two companies that could have grown into genuine rivals to Facebook.

Just last week, several members of Congress questioned representatives of major tech firms at an antitrust hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. The representatives of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon were asked about the size and scope of their businesses. They all claimed that their companies faced stiff competition from multiple rival firms in their respective industries.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump also held a 'Free Speech Summit' at the White House, where he accused major technology companies of treating him and his supporters in an unfair and biased manner. He also pledged to explore "all regulatory and legislative solutions to protect free speech".

Last month, some reports suggested that the DOJ was preparing to open an antitrust investigation into Google to work out whether it has broken US antitrust laws.

US regulators have looked into Google's activities before and determined that the company was not engaged in anticompetitive behaviour. In 2013, the US Federal Trade Commission, following a two-year investigation, ruled that Google hadn't broken any US law.

However, the company has been penalised on multiple occasions by the European regulators for its anticompetitive behaviour - being fined more by the European Union than it paid in taxes last year.