A nationwide anti-trust investigation into several Big Tech companies has just been launched by the attorneys general of 48 states, CBS News reports.
The attorneys general of the 48 states, as well as the attorneys general for Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., will primarily be targeting Google for “potential monopolistic behavior,” with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leading the investigation.
Breitbart additionally reported that New York Attorney General Letitia James will be leading an investigation into the social media platform Facebook. This is in addition to similar anti-trust investigations being conducted against Google and Facebook by the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the United States Congress.
Among other charges leveled against the search engine platform Google, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said that Google’s search results prioritize those who pay more for advertising, saying that “when my daughter is sick and I search online for advice or doctors, I want the best ones…not the ones who spent the most on advertising.”
A Google executive responded to the investigations by defending Google, claiming that Google is “one of America’s top spenders on research and development, making investments that spur innovation.”