The FTC will reportedly monitor Amazon closely amid antitrust scrutiny

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.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"This should be a wake-up call to both Google and Amazon to behave themselves because it at least shows that the Justice Department and FTC are thinking about them," Gene Kimmelman, the president of Public Knowledge, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group, said.

The FTC declined to comment on the matter and Amazon did not immediately respond to the Post's requests. Read more at The Washington Post.