by Tyler Arnold
Ohio lawmakers will hold two hearings next month on potential antitrust law violations by Facebook and Google, Republican Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, announced at a news conference.
The Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings in Cincinnati and Cleveland to investigate if the companies are engaging in anticompetitive practices harmful to consumers that could lead to reduced innovation, fewer choices and higher costs.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost joined several other state attorneys general to launch investigations into potential anticompetitive practices. Both investigations will be bipartisan. Eight states and the District of Columbia joined with the Facebook investigation and all but two states signed onto the Google investigation.
@OhioSenateGOP President @LarryObhof works with @OhioAG @JohnEklundOH on effort to protect Ohioans from goliath big tech anti-trust concerns. What companies know and how they know it in today's global economy raises questions. pic.twitter.com/JfWLxcYVim
— John Fortney (@johnfortney) September 18, 2019
The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating antitrust concerns among tech companies for the past few months. Google, Facebook, Apple and other companies were included in the federal probe.
The European Union has also given these tech companies problems recently. The EU recently launched an investigation into whether Facebook’s Libra Currency violated antitrust laws and earlier this year, Google was fined about €1.5 billion (more than $1.6 billion) for antitrust violations in the EU.
Facebook and Google have maintained they have followed American laws and have not engaged in any anticompetitive practice.
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Tyler Arnold reports on Virginia and Ohio for The Center Square. He previously worked for the Cause of Action Institute and has been published in Business Insider, USA TODAY College, National Review Online and the Washington Free Beacon.
Photo “Larry Obhof Press Conference” by John Fortney.
