Tuesday, September 10, 2019 9:02 am

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III Monday joined 50 attorneys general in a multistate, bipartisan investigation of tech giant Google's business practices in accordance with state and federal antitrust laws.

The bipartisan coalition announced plans to investigate Google's overarching control of online advertising markets and search traffic that may have led to anticompetitive behavior that harms consumers. Legal experts from each state will work in cooperation with federal authorities to assess competitive conditions for online services and ensure that Americans have access to open digital markets.

"Tennessee has significant concerns about the practices of the leading tech platforms and the effect of these practices on the market," said General Slatery. "Extreme market concentration in the technology industry stifles innovation. As a result, consumers inevitably suffer, the quality of available services diminishes, and industry leaders eventually leverage their market dominance to extract monopoly prices."

Past investigations of Google uncovered violations ranging from advertising illegal drugs in the United States to now three antitrust actions brought by the European Commission. None of these previous investigations, however, fully address the source of Google's sustained market power and its ability to engage in serial and repeated anticompetitive business practices with the intention to protect, maintain, and expand that power.

To view the announcement at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, click here: https://www.c-span.org/video/?464067-1/state-attorneys-general-investigate-large-tech-firms

To read General Slatery remarks on data and privacy to the FTC in June, click here: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/news/2019/6/12/pr19-19.html