The Justice Department is laying the foundation for a potential antitrust investigation of Google, three people familiar with the matter say — zeroing in on one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful tech companies.
A looming DOJ investigation poses the newest and most serious challenge yet to the tech industry from Washington, where political leaders have accused Silicon Valley titans of strangling competition and in some cases have demanded the companies be broken up. Those calls have been spurred on by an endless string of privacy mishaps, misinformation scandals and the proliferation of graphic and hateful content on the tech platforms.
Google(GOOG), which has said healthy and thriving markets are in everyone’s interest, declined to comment on the potential probe. The Justice Department and FTC also declined comment.
A fresh investigation of Google by US regulators could reopen old wounds. The company was last under investigation by the FTC as recently as 2013, but emerged relatively unscathed after the firm pledged to change certain aspects of its business, such as how it handles content from third-party travel or shopping sites.
