NTU President Pete Sepp issued the following statement on the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google.
"While details are still emerging about the Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Google, National Taxpayers Union is deeply concerned that DOJ may be pursuing a significantly faulty case that could ultimately harm hundreds of millions of American taxpayers and consumers."
"American taxpayers, workers, employers, and families benefit from technological innovation and advancements in free internet services like email, search, and social media. While 21st century technology has led to spirited debates in Washington and in state capitals across the country -- concerning political speech, data privacy, national security, and more -- NTU has long held that antitrust enforcement is exactly the wrong remedy for these policy concerns. In June, NTU polling found that voters in Arizona, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas wanted their state attorneys general to focus far more on issues such as human trafficking and fraud prevention than antitrust enforcement. As far back as eight years ago, NTU polling demonstrated that massive margins of three-quarters or more were satisfied with online search choices and skeptical of heavier government involvement in this market. And for decades, long before online search was even available to most Americans, NTU has insisted that antitrust enforcement agencies continue to apply a light touch and follow the consistent and decades-old consumer welfare standard. Doing so ensures that the needs of consumers -- not politicians -- are paramount."
"Now, reports indicate that not only is DOJ pursuing an aggressive antitrust case against Google but that 'nothing is off the table' for the court or even Congress to impose -- including a breakup of the company. Such proposals have typically existed on the fringes of the ideological debate over American tech companies, and on the fringes they should remain. NTU looks forward to reviewing the full details of DOJ's case, but we are alarmed by what we have seen thus far."