SAN FRANCISCO: A group of US states is taking aim at Google with an antitrust lawsuit, saying the Internet giant abused its power when ranking its own offerings in search results, Politico reported Tuesday.
A complaint led by attorneys general from Colorado and Nebraska could be filed as early as Thursday, Politico wrote, citing anonymous sources.
Amazon, TripAdviser, Yelp and other Internet firms that involve recommending products or services have complained that Google favors its own offerings in general search results.
The suit being prepared by states will argue that Google’s search engine disadvantages rivals by design, according to Politico.
Google’s long-running business model based on free services and advertising is already being put to the test in a landmark antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department.
The US government filed a blockbuster lawsuit in October accusing Google of maintaining an “illegal monopoly” in online search and advertising. The country’s biggest antitrust case in decades, it opens the door to a potential breakup of the Silicon Valley titan.
The politically charged case, which could take years to play out, draws new battle lines between the US government and Big Tech, with potentially major implications for the sector.
But the government is likely to face challenges proving monopoly allegations against the tech firm, which grew into one of the world’s most successful companies by leveraging its powerful search engine for a network of services such as maps, email, shopping and travel that feed its data-driven digital advertising.
Legal experts point to the fact that it may be difficult to show Google’s conduct was illegal under the longstanding “consumer welfare” standard in monopoly cases because its services are largely free.
The case — joined by 11 states, all of which have Republican attorneys general — comes against a backdrop of fierce political backlash against Big Tech giants that have extended their dominance in recent years.
The Justice Department argues that Google has cemented its monopoly position using deals with device makers to ensure its apps and services are prominently displayed, and sometimes can’t be deleted.
Google called the US lawsuit “deeply flawed.”
US states aiming antitrust suit at Google
https://arab.news/gxmqb
US states aiming antitrust suit at Google
- Amazon, TripAdviser, Yelp and other Internet firms that involve recommending products or services have complained that Google favors its own offerings in general search results
Journalist working for German media arrested in Turkiye
- A Turkish journalist working for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has been arrested on accusations of “spreading false news” and “insulting the president“
ISTANBUL: A Turkish journalist working for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has been arrested on accusations of “spreading false news” and “insulting the president,” the Istanbul prosecutor’s office has said.
Alican Uludag was arrested in Ankara on Thursday, the office said, on charges stemming from posts on a social media account.
Uludag’s lawyer said the journalist was being targeted for articles written for DW about the repatriation of Turkish citizens affiliated with the Daesh group.
“Alican Uludag was taken into custody (...) because of his article entitled ‘Turkiye Prepares to Repatriate Turkish Citizens Affiliated with the Islamic State’,” said attorney Tora Pekin.
Deutsche Welle said late Thursday that the “charges refer to a message published on X about a year and a half ago” in which Uludag “criticized measures taken by the Turkish government that allegedly led to the release of possible Daesh terrorists” and “accused the government of corruption.”
He was “arrested and taken away in front of his family by about thirty police officers. His home was searched and computer equipment was seized,” it said.
He is due to appear before prosecutors in Istanbul on Friday, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to a representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Erol Onderoglu, “the arrest of Alican Uludag is part of a process of judicial harassment against serious journalists.”
The media watchdog group denounced “the relentless arbitrary practices that are now targeting a journalist who may have disturbed the authorities because of his investigations.”
DW chief Barbara Massing demanded Uludag’s immediate release.
“That a journalist is treated like a common criminal, taken away by some thirty police officers and immediately transferred to Istanbul, constitutes targeted intimidation and shows the extent to which the government is massively repressing press freedom,” she said in a statement.
