European Commission opens new competition probes into Google and Facebook

European Commission opens new competition probes into Google and Facebook

The European Commission has launched separate antitrust investigations into Google and Facebook’s data practices.  The preliminary probes concern the way that data is collated, used and commercialised by the companies, including for advertising.

This latest investigation adds to the scrutiny that both companies are facing from national antitrust authorities and the Commission.

To date the Commission has issued three separate infringement decisions against Google under EU competition law (Google Shopping, Google Android and Google Adsense). The General Court will hear Google’s appeal in the Shopping case in February.

The Commission is also investigating the governance and membership structure of Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra.

Meanwhile, New York’s attorney general and other state attorneys general in the USA are investigating Facebook’s data collection practices and others have ongoing investigations into Google’s online search practices.  Google has publicly confirmed that it is the subject of an investigation by the US Department of Justice.