Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading a group of 50 attorneys general in a multi-state probe into Google, exploring whether the company violated state and federal antitrust laws.
The bipartisan group will look into the tech giant’s advertising markets and search capabilities, probing whether business practices led to anticompetitive behavior and harmed consumers.
“There is nothing wrong with a business becoming the biggest game in town if it does so through free market competition, but we have seen evidence that Google’s business practices may have undermined consumer choice, stifled innovation, violated users’ privacy, and put Google in control of the flow and dissemination of online information,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement announcing the investigation. “We intend to closely follow the facts we discover in this case and proceed as necessary
According to his office, Google has faced three different antitrust actions brought against it by the European Commission, and it was uncovered that the search engine had illegal drugs advertised through it.
California and Alabama are not participating in the probe, but attorneys general from D.C. and Puerto Rico are, according to Politico.
The new bipartisan effort comes after reports emerged in June the Justice Department was preparing its own antitrust violation probe of Google.
A spokesperson from the tech giant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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