
The Justice Department’s top antitrust official warned Big Tech companies Friday (November 8) that the government could pursue them for anticompetitive behavior related to their troves of user data, including for cutting off data access to competitors.
“Antitrust enforcers cannot turn a blind eye to the serious competition questions that digital markets have raised,” Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim told an antitrust conference hosted by CPI at Harvard Law School.
Delrahim did not name any specific companies, but his office is investigating companies including Google while the Federal Trade Commission probes Facebook. The House Judiciary Committee is also conducting an inquiry looks at those two companies plus Amazon and Apple.
“Most notably, enforcers must confront the reality that data insights in the digital economy are combined across the ecosystem of the internet sometimes in ways that transcend product improvement and impact consumer choice altogether,” Delrahim said, according to prepared remarks for a speech at an antitrust conference hosted by CPI at Harvard Law School.
Delrahim said some of the most interesting and alarming legal issues raised by the rise of the digital economy are in the “collection, aggregation and commercial use of consumer data,” which he called “analogous to a new currency” reported the Washington Post.
He said his office is studying “the ways market power can manifest in industries where data plays a key role,” particularly when large amounts of data are amassed that are “quite personal and unique in nature” and offers insight into “the most intimate aspects of human choice and behavior, including personal health, emotional well-being, civic engagement and financial fitness.
Full Content: Axios, Washington Post
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
University of Kentucky Eyes Structural Shift Amid Antitrust Pressures
Apr 24, 2025 by
CPI
Opt-Out Flops Out At WIPO Meeting on AI and IP
Apr 24, 2025 by
CPI
Belgian Watchdog Fines Pharma Giants Over Anti-Competitive Practices in Pharmacies
Apr 24, 2025 by
CPI
X Sues Minnesota Over Law Banning AI Deepfakes in Elections
Apr 24, 2025 by
CPI
Twelve States Sue Trump Over Tariff Policy, Citing Overreach of Executive Power
Apr 24, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Mergers in Digital Markets
Apr 21, 2025 by
CPI
Catching a Killer? Six “Genetic Markers” to Assess Nascent Competitor Acquisitions
Apr 21, 2025 by
John Taladay & Christine Ryu-Naya
Digital Decoded: Is There More Scope for Digital Mergers In 2025?
Apr 21, 2025 by
Colin Raftery, Michele Davis, Sarah Jensen & Martin Dickson
AI In the Mix – An Ever-Evolving Approach to Jurisdiction Over Digital Mergers in Europe
Apr 21, 2025 by
Ingrid Vandenborre & Ketevan Zukakishvili
Antitrust Enforcement Errors Due to a Failure to Understand Organizational Capabilities and Dynamic Competition
Apr 21, 2025 by
Magdalena Kuyterink & David J. Teece