The U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 30 sent a civil investigative demand to Alphabet Inc. requesting information and documents relating to the company's prior antitrust investigations in the U.S. and elsewhere.
The request is related to an antitrust review of leading online platforms announced by the DOJ in July to determine whether these companies stifle competition or engage in other practices that harm consumers. Alphabet said in a Sept. 6 SEC filing that it expects to receive similar investigative demands from state attorneys general in the future.
The DOJ's announcement came at a time of mounting political pressure for the major tech companies.
Facebook Inc. is under investigation regarding its dominant market position and anti-competitive behavior, while Google LLC and YouTube LLC recently agreed to pay $170 million to settle allegations from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general that the companies violated children's online privacy rules. Tech giant Apple Inc. and e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. are also under scrutiny.
