antitrust

The European Commission must block the Google -Fitbit merger as a matter of democratic imperative, prominent academic and author Shoshana Zuboff has warned. The Harvard professor who wrote the defining book on surveillance capitalism has become the latest voice raised against the $2.1BN data+devices deal — that’s now been delayed at the regulatory clearance stage […]

Europe urged to block Google-Fitbit ahead of major digital policy ...

This entry was posted in antitrust artificial intelligence Europe fitbit Gadgets Margrethe Vestager Policy privacy and tagged google on December 11, 2020 by Natasha Lomas

In the view of most Americans, there’s abundant competition and choice throughout the digital marketplace.

Survey: Americans think Big Tech isn’t so bad after all

This entry was posted in Amazon antitrust Column Government Policy Social and tagged apple facebook google social media on December 10, 2020 by Walter Thompson

Facebook’s bad week just got worse: It’s being investigated in Germany for linking usage of its VR product, Oculus, to having a Facebook account. The tech giant raised the hackles of the VR community this summer when it announced it would be merging users of the latest Oculus kit onto a single Facebook account — […]

Facebook hit with antitrust probe for tying Oculus use to ...

This entry was posted in antitrust Europe Gaming Germany Oculus Social Virtual reality and tagged facebook on December 10, 2020 by Natasha Lomas

The Federal Trade Commission today announced a new antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that the social network has used monopoly power “with the aim of suppressing, neutralizing, and deterring serious competitive threats,” and must be broken up. The suit is separate from, but was investigated in coordination with, one from 48 attorneys general also announced […]

FTC seeks to break up Facebook, alleging illegal monopoly

This entry was posted in antitrust FTC Government Social and tagged facebook on December 9, 2020 by Devin Coldewey

If there was any doubt that yesterday’s flogging of big tech CEOs by Senate republicans was anything other than an electioneering stunt, president Trump has thumped the point home by tweeting a video message to voters in which he bashes “big tech” as (maybe) too powerful but certainly in need of being “spoken to” and […]

Trump hints at stopping “powerful” big tech in latest ‘get ...

This entry was posted in antitrust Government Social and tagged social media twitter on October 29, 2020 by Natasha Lomas

The deadline for Europe to make a call on the Google -Fitbit merger has been pushed out again — with EU regulators now having until January 8, 2021, to take a decision. The latest change to the provisional deadline, spotted earlier by Reuters, could be the result of one of the parties asking for more […]

EU’s Google-Fitbit antitrust decision deadline pushed into 2021

This entry was posted in antitrust data Europe fitbit Gadgets privacy and tagged google on October 16, 2020 by Natasha Lomas

Despite being under antitrust investigations in U.S. and E.U., Facebook today is rolling out a new feature that highlights the extent to which its suite of apps now interoperate. The company this morning introduced a consumer-facing tool called “Accounts Center,” which is found in the Settings section of Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. The feature aims […]

Facebook introduces Accounts Center, a tool for managing a growing ...

This entry was posted in antitrust Apps Messenger Policy privacy Social and tagged facebook instagram on September 29, 2020 by Sarah Perez

Mobile device maker HMD Global has announced a $230M Series A2 — its first tranche of external funding since a $100M round back in 2018 when it tipped over into a unicorn valuation. Since late 2016 the startup has exclusively licensed Nokia’s brand for mobile devices, going on to ship some 240M devices to date. […]

Google, Nokia, Qualcomm are investors in $230M Series A2 for ...

This entry was posted in Android antitrust brazil China Europe Fundings & Exits huawei india Microsoft Mobile Nokia qualcomm smartphone smartphones and tagged google on August 11, 2020 by Natasha Lomas

In a set-back for Google’s plan to acquire health wearable company Fitbit, the European Commission has announced it’s opening an investigation to dig into a range of competition concerns being attached to the proposal from multiple quarters. This means the deal is on ice for a period of time that could last until early December. […]