Social Media firms and search engines whether big or small, all have to abide by the law and respect their consumers. Not just one or two but dozens of US states have launched inquiries and investigations against Facebook and Google for anti-trust. The news was first broken by the Wall Street Journal as confirmed on Friday by New York State attorney general, Letitia James which is just one among many others that include attorney generals of Colorado, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
What would the Facebook and Google Investigations Cover
The investigations would examine the search engine giant Google’s search engine advertising market, its policies and how it impacts and affects consumers. In an overlapping but a separate investigation, Facebook’s advertising model and its privacy records are to be investigated by the leading law enforcers.
This investigation will also focus on this social media giant’s dominance in the industry and their potential anti-competitive conduct that is arising from this dominance. Letitia James, New York attorney general said that every investigative tool would be used that is currently at their disposal to makes sure transparent investigations into whether Facebook has endangered consumer data, increased advertising prices and reduced the quality of consumers choices.
This can just be a start to what can be a big step towards making consumer data secure and much more. Google and Facebook are now going to face some real tough time as Britain parliamentary report already have labelled Facebook being the digital gangsters and Donald Trump has called them “dishonest” and “Crooked” and said that “something is going to be done”.
Read more in detail about the news here: Antitrust and Privacy Inquiries launched against Facebook and Google