META Meta Platforms Inc

By Tim Hanrahan 

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General William Barr said he would like for the Justice Department probe of Big Tech to wrap up by next year, saying there is a cost to business and the marketplace from long investigations.

The government has to move quickly and "fish or cut bait," he said, in an interview at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council gathering in Washington on Tuesday.

The Justice Department is conducting a broad antitrust review into whether dominant technology companies, such as Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, are unlawfully stifling competition.

Mr. Barr said there is bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and a "complete consensus" among the Justice Department and state attorneys general that something should be done. He said that could be an enforcement action or "an opportunity for legislative proposals."

Mr. Barr also said he was receptive to the idea that there could be monopolistic harm to users regarding personal data, even if the consumer doesn't pay for a service.

"I am inclined to think there is no free lunch. Something that is free is actually getting paid for one way or the other. So I am open to that argument."

A Journal article on Tuesday highlighted the argument that Facebook harmed consumers by charging them ever-increasing amounts of personal data to use its platform.

In the Journal article, a person who has worked on Facebook's privacy policies disputed the premise. "We haven't degraded privacy protection, we've increased it," the person said.

Write to Tim Hanrahan at tim.hanrahan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 10, 2019 16:15 ET (21:15 GMT)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2024 a Abr 2024

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2023 a Abr 2024