US FTC Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon, Alleging Harm to Consumers Through Higher Prices.
Washington, D.C., USA – The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially launched an anticipated antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com, accusing the online retail giant of adversely affecting consumers by maintaining higher prices.
This lawsuit marks the latest legal action taken by the US government in its ongoing efforts to address the dominance of Big Tech companies in the realm of the internet.
The lawsuit, which has been filed in collaboration with 17 state attorneys general, comes after a comprehensive four-year investigation into Amazon.com and other major technology corporations.
These investigations aim to address concerns that tech giants, including Amazon, have exploited their authority in areas such as search, social media, and online retail to establish themselves as gatekeepers over the most lucrative aspects of the internet.
“The FTC and its state partners assert that Amazon’s actions enable it to thwart competitors and sellers from lowering prices, compromise quality for consumers, overcharge sellers, impede innovation, and hinder competitors from engaging in fair competition against Amazon,” the agency stated in an official announcement.
The FTC is now seeking a permanent injunction from the court, urging Amazon.com to cease its alleged unlawful practices.
Among the allegations outlined in the lawsuit are claims that Amazon punished sellers who attempted to offer prices lower than those set by Amazon, making it challenging for consumers to locate such sellers on Amazon’s platform. Additionally, the suit asserts that Amazon demonstrated a preference for promoting its own products on its platform over those of competitors.
FTC Chair Lina Khan, who, during her time as a law student, published an article on Amazon.com’s dominance in online retailing in “The Yale Law Journal” and served on the staff of the House committee responsible for a 2020 report advocating increased regulation of four tech giants, including Amazon.com, Apple, Google, and Facebook.
The call to address the power of Big Tech has been one of the few issues garnering bipartisan support, with both Democrats and Republicans recognizing the need for action. During the Trump administration, which concluded in 2021, both the Justice Department and the FTC initiated investigations into Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.
The Justice Department has pursued legal action against Google twice, once under Republican President Donald Trump, focusing on its search business, and a second time under Democratic President Joe Biden, this time related to advertising technology.
Furthermore, the FTC initiated a lawsuit against Facebook during the Trump administration, and this legal pursuit has continued under President Biden’s FTC.
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