Trump's Attorney General Nominee Barr May Target Big Tech (GOOG; TWTR; FB)

From Fox Business:

President Trump’s attorney general nominee, William Barr, is signaling he intends to focus antitrust enforcement on technology companies amid concerns that tech giants have grown too large and are stifling competition, FOX Business has learned.

The possible move into tech was signaled during Tuesday’s confirmation hearings, people close to the big technology outfits tell FOX Business, and it sparked widespread concern among these companies. 

During the hearings Barr said, “I don't think big is necessarily bad, but I think a lot of people wonder how such huge behemoths that now exist in Silicon Valley have taken shape under the nose of the antitrust enforcers. You can win that place in the marketplace without violating the antitrust laws, but I want to find out more about that dynamic."

The new emphasis would be a significant change for the Justice Department, which has traditionally ceded most scrutiny of big tech to the Federal Trade Commission, particularly on merger review. It also underscores how companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google have grown in importance, dominating people’s lives like never before, and stoking concerns in Washington about the power of these outfits and the use and possible misuse customer data....MORE