FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 12, 2023 

CONTACT: Ashley Woolheater, woolheater@openmarketsinstitute.org

WASHINGTON – In response to Google violating California and federal antitrust laws, stifling competition by removing other publishers like Epic Games from its Play mobile app store, Open Markets Executive Director Barry Lynn released the following statement:

"Last evening a jury in California took mere hours of deliberation to come to a simple common-sense conclusion - Google is a monopoly that abuses its power. More specifically, in this case, Google’s bosses take advantage of the corporation’s control of essential infrastructure to manipulate and extort American businesses and gouge American consumers. The decision is a great victory for rule of law and the American system of free and democratic enterprise."

"The decision is also instructive. More than a generation ago, a small group of lawyers and economists claimed that antimonopoly law should be enforced by specially trained technocrats. The result was the corruption of both science and bureaucracy and the greatest concentration of power and control in the history of the United States, to a point where Google and its peer platforms directly threaten our democracy. One lesson for all law enforcers around the world, therefore, is to relearn the plain language of political economics and to tell of how monopolists bully, extort, manipulate, steal, control, and impose their will on entire societies." 

"The decision is also an inspiration to every individual who has stood up to fight to restore our democracy and fundamental liberties. As our team at Open Markets has long held, it will be the people themselves that resolve this crisis. All they have lacked thus far, have been the facts."

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