US House of Representatives demand internal emails from tech giants in antitrust probe

ReutersSep 13, 2019 20:57:26 IST

A U.S. House of Representatives panel on Friday demanded internal emails and other company records from Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, and Alphabet Inc’s Google as it seeks evidence of anticompetitive behavior.

Stock image of Google search page.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee requested the documents by October 14. The companies did not immediately return a request for comment.

This demand comes days after the Texas attorney general led a group of 50 attorneys general from U.S. states and territories in a probe on whether Google abuses its market power in advertising.

The U.S. Justice Department said in July it is investigating “whether and how” large tech companies in “search, social media, and some retail services online” are engaging in anticompetitive behaviour, an apparent reference to the same companies named by the House panel on Friday.