Today the Department of Justice filed its highly anticipated antitrust lawsuit against Google for its dominance in advertising and violation of the Sherman Act. This monumental lawsuit is based on years of investigation and claims against the dominant monopoly.
Over the last year, multiple lawsuits, bills and investigations have been introduced to examine the anticompetitive behavior of Big Tech companies, such as Facebook and Google, and how their dominance of the online ecosystem harms news publishers and other creators.
MPA joined a coalition of media organization urging the Department of Justice to protect journalists covering protest activities.
The News Media Alliance commends Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) for the release of her report, “Local Journalism: The Threat to America’s Most Trusted News Source,” outlining how changes in the information marketplace and the dominance of online platforms pose an existential threat to local news publishers
In response to the lawsuit filed today by the Department of Justice (DOJ) accusing Google of antitrust violations related to its search and advertising services, Alliance President and CEO, David Chavern, stated, “It is good that the DOJ is starting the process, but ‘search distribution’ issues are a small subset of the many issues presented by Google dominance. News publishers are particularly harmed by Google’s control of ad tech – and that doesn’t appear to be covered at all by the DOJ’s action today.
Today, the News Media Alliance released a White Paper, “How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism.” The Alliance has submitted the White Paper to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the House Antitrust Subcommittee for incorporation into their investigation of Google’s anticompetitive behavior.
On February 19, 2020, Alliance President & CEO David Chavern will testify at the Department of Justice Workshop on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
