Kanter and Khan Defend Antitrust Record Against Tech

DOJ’s lawsuit challenging Google’s search dominance will prove to be an “historic” case, Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter said Tuesday. Speaking at the American Economic Liberties Project’s Anti-Monopoly Summit, Kanter touted the department’s “unprecedented record of action” against corporate consolidation, including antitrust cases, merger challenges, criminal prosecutions and amicus filings. The department sued Google in January 2023, claiming the platform used anticompetitive tactics to protect its search and advertising dominance. There’s less smartphone innovation because of Google’s practices, Kanter said Tuesday. Enforcers must keep digital markets competitive because the current “power imbalance” is “particularly stark” in the tech sector, he said: The law doesn’t permit the “hobbling of innovation” in the interest of preserving monopoly power. The Biden administration is “not afraid” of fighting for consumers, FTC Chair Lina Khan said. Enforcers have been able to score “concrete policy victories” against major corporations despite their seemingly “infinite resources,” she said. Businesses are learning to “take the law seriously” because the Biden administration has been willing to challenge anticompetitive behavior, said Kanter. He noted that more than 20 entities have abandoned acquisition plans in the past 30 months while facing DOJ antitrust scrutiny. Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu, a former White House competition policy adviser, urged policymakers to adjust antitrust remedies. The current antitrust movement won’t have any lasting impact unless remedies are modernized to hold corporations more accountable, he said.