Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, a federal judge ruled on Monday, a decision that strikes at the power of big tech companies and that may fundamentally alter the way they do business.
Judge Amit P. Mehta of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Google had abused a monopoly over the search business.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Mehta said in his ruling.
The ruling is the most significant victory to date for American regulators who are trying to rein in the power of tech giants in the internet era.
It is likely to influence other government antitrust lawsuits against Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Persons:
Judge Amit P, Mehta, Judge Mehta
Organizations:
Google, U.S, District of Columbia, Justice Department, Apple, Samsung, Facebook