North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has joined a multi-state “investigation” into the practices of Google and Facebook:
In the Google investigation, Stein joins a coalition of 50 attorneys general looking at Google’s moves in online advertising and search traffic to “suppress competition, violate antitrust laws and harm consumers.” Joining the investigation was every state, except for Alabama and Google’s home state of California, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
In a statement, Stein called the internet a “critical infrastructure of the 21st Century” that was being “dominated” by a handful of companies.
“When companies in any industry get too powerful and too big, they can use their power and size to harm people and damage markets,” he added. “Antitrust laws help us ensure that people get the best services and prices, that their privacy is respected, and that they benefit from competition that fosters the next generation of technology.
“I joined in this bipartisan investigation to take a look at this massive company to make sure that it is not engaged in business practices that hurt consumers and stifle competitors.”
In my humble opinion, Facebook is what it is, and the fact remains that no one is holding guns to our heads forcing us to get caught up in that sometimes-crazy Mark Zuckerberg universe. Google, however, is another matter. It presents itself as a neutral provider of information, but clearly it is not. So what is to be done in a free society? My gut reaction is big deal— supposedly neutral sources of information (mainstream media) shading their biases is an old playbook. So is the full force of government required to force Google into full disclosure, or is it simply buyer beware?
At any rate, Dr. Robert Epstein’s appearance on ‘Life, Liberty and Levin’ (clip below) should be required viewing. In case you haven’t heard, Epstein conducted a study and concluded Google engaged in bias toward Democrats in both the 2016 and 2018 elections. If you think that’s bad enough, Epstein warns we ain’t seen nothing yet–wait until 2020. And the fact that Epstein—an admitted Hillary Clinton supporter—would go on Mark Levin’s show to state his case speaks volumes about the way the mainstream press has covered his study. That’s right–they haven’t.
So Attorney Stein is right when he suggests Google “can use (its) power to harm people and damage markets.” But just they’re not doing in the way he might think. He is a Democrat, after all.