RALEIGH – North Carolina and 37 other states filed a lawsuit against internet giant Google on Thursday, citing “illegal, anticompetitive conduct.”
NC Attorney General Josh Stein had been mulling a suit against Google for months following an investigation of its business practices.
Last week, Stein joined virtually every other states’ attorneys general in suing Facebook.
About Google Stein noted ahead of the lawsuit filing: “Over the last year, both the US [Department of Justice] and state attorneys general have conducted separate but parallel investigations into Google’s anticompetitive market behavior. We appreciate the strong bipartisan cooperation among the states and the good working relationship with the DOJ on these serious issues.”
Spearheading the new Google suit, which follows a similar action filed by a smaller group of states including Texas, is New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Google sits at the crossroads of so many areas of our digital economy and has used its dominance to illegally squash competitors, monitor nearly every aspect of our digital lives, and profit to the tune of billions,” James said in announcing the suit.
“Through its illegal conduct, the company has ensured that hundreds of millions of people turn to Google first when looking for an answer, but it doesn’t take a web search to understand that unchecked corporate power shouldn’t have disproportionate control over our data and information. For decades now, Google has served as the gatekeeper of the internet and has weaponized our data to kill off competitors and control our decision making — resulting in all of us paying more for the services we use every day,” she added.
In summing up the lawsuit, James’ office explained:
“Through a series of exclusionary contracts and other anticompetitive conduct, Google has deprived consumers of competition that could lead to greater choice and innovation, as well as better privacy protections. Attorney General James and the coalition also accuse Google of exploiting its market position to accumulate and leverage data to the detriment of consumers, all in an effort to control the market and make billions in profits.”
The lawsuit can be read online.
Will NC sue Google for ‘anti-competitive conduct?’ Ten other states already have
