Big Tech’s legal woes are expected to worsen in the coming weeks as
federal and state antitrust authorities prepare to file new lawsuits
against Facebook and Alphabet’s Google, WSJ reported Monday, citing
people familiar with the matter. From the report: The authorities are
readying as many as four more cases targeting Google or Facebook by the
end of January, these people said, following the Justice Department’s
antitrust lawsuit against Google last month. Federal and state officials
are probing whether the tech giants abused their power in the internet
economy– Google to dominate search and advertising, and Facebook to
dominate social media. Google and Facebook have denied doing so, saying
they operate in highly competitive markets and that their services, which
are mostly free, benefit consumers. If Facebook were to be sued, it would
mark the first government antitrust action against the social-media titan
in the U.S. Facebook has come under particular criticism from Republicans
and Democrats in Congress as well as President-elect Joe Biden over its
content-moderation policies. Democrats generally contend the company has
been too lax in policing misleading speech, while Republicans say
Facebook has sometimes suppressed conservatives. Facebook has said it
aims to support free speech while limiting hate speech and other harmful
content. …
