The FTC will reportedly monitor Amazon closely amid antitrust scrutiny

(Image credit: DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images)

published 2 June 2019

On Friday it was Google. Now it's Amazon's turn.

The Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday that Google could soon be the subject of a Justice Department investigation of possible antitrust practices by its parent company, Alphabet, Inc. The following day, The Washington Post reported that Amazon will also be watched carefully as part of heightened antitrust scrutiny, people familiar with the matter said.

While the Justice Department is keeping its eye on Google, the Federal Trade Commission will focus on Amazon as part of a deal between the U.S. government's top two antitrust enforcement agencies. The Post reports such an agreement usually signals more serious antitrust scrutiny on the horizon, which has garnered bipartisan support in Congress due to fears that tech companies have become too powerful.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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