The case challenges a host of Amazon’s business practices, including rules that the FTC says block lower prices on competing websites and policies the FTC believes force merchants to use Amazon’s logistics and advertising services. | Michel Euler/AP PhotoThe U.S. government is launching its most consequential attack on the dominance of Big Tech in Americans’ daily lives: a sweeping antitrust lawsuit targeting retail giant Amazon Inc.
The legal challenge, filed in a federal court in Washington state, will be a defining cornerstone of the Biden administration’s pledge to curb the power of the nation’s largest tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Apple, which have been accused of running modern monopolies that don’t fit within the confines of antiquated antitrust laws.
Wednesday’s lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission is the most ambitious gambit yet to rein in the power of large tech companies and is being spearheaded by Lina Khan, who has specifically called for breaking up Amazon in the past. If successful, it could lead to a court-ordered restructuring of the $1.3 trillion empire.
The case challenges a host of Amazon’s business practices, including rules that the FTC says block lower prices on competing websites and policies the FTC believes force merchants to use Amazon’s logistics and advertising services. The FTC first began investigating Amazon in 2019 during the Trump administration. The probe accelerated once Khan took over the agency, and the FTC has been drafting a complaint since late last year,