DoJ, FTC Looking at Possible Antitrust Against Google, Facebook, Twitter

For better or worse, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are looking at competition, consumer protection and potential antitrust issues related to the likes of Google, Facebook and possibly Twitter.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is exploring a potential investigation of social media companies, and could lead to a federal case against Alphabet’s Google, Facebook and maybe Twitter for violating consumer-protection or antitrust laws.

The FTC is kicking off  a series of public hearings during the fall and winter 2018 examining whether broad-based changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer protection law, enforcement priorities, and policy.

In other words, this might be the precursor to regulation of internet app firms in new ways, possibly including measures of an antitrust nature (breaking up firms or restraining them).

Hearing	Date	Topics	Location
#1	Sep. 13-14, 2018	Review of Competition and Consumer Protection Landscape; Concentration and Competitiveness in U.S. Economy; Privacy Regulation; Consumer Welfare Standard in Antitrust; Vertical Mergers	Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC
#2	Sep. 21, 2018	State of U.S. Antitrust Law; Mergers and Monopsony or Buyer Power	FTC Constitution Center, Washington, DC
#3	Oct. 15-17, 2018	The Identification and Analysis of Collusive, Exclusionary, and Predatory Conduct by Digital and Technology-Based Platform Businesses; Antitrust Framework for Evaluating Acquisitions of Potential or Nascent Competitors in Digital Marketplaces; Antitrust Evaluation of Labor Markets	George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Arlington, VA
#4	Oct. 23-24, 2018	Innovation and Intellectual Property Policy	FTC Constitution Center, Washington, DC
#5	Nov. 6-7, 2018	Privacy, Big Data, and Competition	American University Washington College of Law, Washington, DC
#6	Nov. 13-14, 2018	Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Predictive Analytics	Howard University School of Law, Washington, DC