It is a large-scale legal action that the American government has just launched.

The Justice Ministry on Tuesday initiated proceedings against Google for infringement of competition law in order to preserve its monopoly in the field of search and online advertising, according to a source familiar with the matter who confirms the revelations of the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

According to the American authorities, this procedure will constitute "a priority of the Attorney General, William Barr".

These lawsuits represent the most important legal action in more than 20 years carried out by the American federal government against one of the giants of the American “Big Tech”.

The complaint is expected to be filed in federal court in the US capital Washington DC.

The government's recommendations were not yet known, but they could include recommendations aimed at dismantling parts of the search engine giant.

Google was fined 4.3 billion euros in 2018 from the European competition authorities for unfair practices in the Android ecosystem, in order to strengthen its dominant position, particularly in the field of search on Internet.

The Gafa in the sights of the American authorities

Like its competitors Amazon, Facebook and Apple, Google has been targeted by the American authorities for several years.

Various investigations have been launched against the Gafa by federal agencies, parliamentary committees as well as prosecutors in almost all American states.

At the political level, these groups have drawn the wrath of both conservative elected officials, who accuse them of partiality, as well as progressive elected officials, who are worried about infringements of competition law and the strengthening of inequalities caused by Big Tech.

Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley, very critical of the Gafa, welcomed the pending lawsuits of the US government, saying it would be "the largest abuse of dominance trial in a generation" .

With Reuters and AFP

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