US Attorney Generals join in a macro-investigation against Google for monopoly

The general prosecutors of fifty states and territories of the United States announced on Monday the start of a macro-investigation against the technological giant Google for an alleged violation of antitrust laws.

"It is a very important issue of our era. Many consumers believe that the internet is free, but we have learned that it is not. Google is a company that dominates all aspects of advertising," the Texas attorney general told a news conference , Republican Ken Paxton, who heads the coalition of prosecutors.

The only two US states Not participating in the initiative are California, where the company is based, and Alabama.

Google has faced accusations that its search service, which has become so dominant that it is now a verb, takes consumers to its own products at the expense of competitors.

"We have joined in such an important investigation. It is important that we discover more about the information we are revealing and the price we are playing ... (While the Democrats and Republicans are from different parties, we have the responsibility to protect the citizens of our states, "explained Ashley Moody, Florida prosecutor, at the same appearance.

At the federal level, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission investigate Facebook, Apple and Amazon, also for possible violations of the antitrust law.

On Friday, Google said it had received a civil investigation lawsuit, essentially a subpoena, from the Department of Justice on August 30.

"We look forward to receiving similar investigation demands from state attorney generals in the future. We continue to cooperate with the (Department of Justice), federal and state regulators in the United States and other regulators worldwide," the company said then.

Today's action comes after another coalition of attorney generals from eight states opened an investigation last Friday about whether Facebook endangered consumer data or if the antitrust law was violated.

"The world's largest social media platform must comply with the law," said New York attorney general Letitia James, announcing those inquiries.

Last month, Facebook agreed to pay $ 5 billion as part of an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission for privacy breach charges.

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