The looming antitrust battle facing big tech
COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW – 04/06/2019
Jon Allsop
In recent weeks, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission—which lead antitrust enforcement in the US—have been discussing what to do about big tech. As the The Washington Post puts it, regulators have been “quietly divvying up” oversight of the sector’s key players; according to The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department is set to assume responsibility for Google and Apple, while the FTC will take on Facebook and Amazon. These assignments look like preparatory moves, though the full extent of the administration’s intentions remains unclear. However, investigations into anti-competitive behavior would hardly be a surprise. Tech giants are in the midst of a reputational hammering.