North Carolina’s Attorney General and a coalition of other AG’s, as well as the United States Department of Justice, have proposed an end to Google’s illegal monopoly over internet search engines.
The initial lawsuit was filed in 2020, because Attorney General Jeff Jackson said Google’s search monopoly violates federal antitrust law and the changes being proposed, “Would right Google’s wrongs and give control back to customers.”
The solutions proposed include banning Google from paying other Android partners or Apple to be the default search engine on any device; requiring Google to safely share the data and information that it obtained through its unlawful monopoly power; and requiring Google to sell off its Chrome browser, an entry point to search services for a significant number of users.
The AG’s also want to prohibit Google from making Google Search or Google AI mandatory on Android devices, interfering with rivals’ distribution, or degrading rivals’ quality.
If these solutions are ineffective, the governments propose requiring Google to sell Android.
A hearing on the proposed remedies is currently scheduled to begin on April 22 and conclude by May 2.
