USA intensifies antitrust supervision against Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon

The American technology, in the spotlight of the American regulators. The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have begun the distribution of powers in order to intensify the investigations on Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon for possible anti competitive strategies.

The regulators, who have met in recent weeks, are looking for clues about the possible anti-competitive strategies of these companies that, at the moment, are among the ten most powerful in the world. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice, which jointly enforce antitrust laws in the US, have separate oversight of the four companies, according to US media citing anonymous sources.

With all this, the regulatory bodies have reached an antitrust pact to monitor the technology in a transversal manner. The follow-up to Amazon and Facebook remain, in this phase, under the supervision of the FTC, while the scrutiny of Apple and Google remains in the hands of the Department of Justice.


A fact that supposes the beginning of a preliminary phase to analyze if the companies of the sector have violated the antitrust laws and that it can suppose a multimillionaire sanction. The agency has been investigating Facebook for more than a year after the Cambridge Analytica scandal unveiled the possibility that Facebook had violated current regulations.

It is also one of the first scrutinizes

to be made to a company like Alphabet, Google's parent company, in its country of origin, given that in the European Union, whose laws are less permissive, it has received three important sanctions. It is a delicate context since, in addition, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has requested greater control over social networks; companies that he has accused of repressing the views of conservative ideology.

It has not transcended, however, the main concerns of the Trump government over Apple, although in recent months companies such as Spottily have harshly criticized the iPhone manufacturer for possible monopolistic practices in the European Union.

It is also unclear what can be translated into the start of these investigations, but analysts believe that regulators can force to separate the services of these companies. Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet have fallen on the New York Stock Exchange before the possibility that the regulatory authorities of that country's competition will subject them to greater vigilance.