Open Markets Institute Calls On U.S. Judicial Panel to Deny Google’s Attempt to Impede the Texas AG Multistate Case
Google’s advertising monopolies threatens democracy and the free press and must be stopped as soon as possible
WASHINGTON – The Open Markets Institute sent a letter to the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation today urging them to immediately deny Google’s motion to transfer in State of Texas et al V Google LLC to the Northern District of California.
Read the full letter here.
The motion to force the courts to transfer would spell years of delay. Right now, Google is in control of multiple advertising monopolies, obtained through antitrust violations, that threaten the independence of the free press, allow the spread of disinformation and misinformation, and threaten American democracy as a whole
From the letter:
“As the State Attorneys General allege in their complaint, the ultimate technical result is that Google has erected multiple advertising monopolies, including (but not limited to) the markets for publisher ad servers, display ad exchanges, display ad networks, and display ad tools.
The ultimate political result is to bottleneck news across a few platforms, development by these platforms of evermore powerful systems for tracking and manipulating what citizens read and buy, the diversion of the bulk of advertising dollars away from local and national news media into their own pockets, and the consolidation of evermore extreme economic control over the journalists and publishers who depend on these platforms.
Recognizing the urgency of the Texas AG multistate case against Google, Eastern District of Texas Judge Sean Jordan has moved the docket quickly and has denied Google’s motion to transfer the case. An eight-week trial is set for June 2023. Transferring the Texas AG multistate case would spell years of delay. America’s free press and democracy cannot afford such a wait. Google’s motion to transfer and consolidate the Texas AG multistate case must be denied.”
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Read the full letter below or download here.
