How DOJ Investigations Could Force Big Tech Companies Into Being Good

While major tech companies have strived to make our lives better with technological advancements, we really can’t trust them fully as of now. Tech majors have been able to disappoint us, and my concern over here is the various practices they follow to get hold of our data or reach the top of the ladder.

With an aim to regulate things, the US Department of Justice has decided to intervene and investigate popular companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon — the ones we can’t do without.

As this arises, the main question is, how is this going to impact the tech world and what are all the changes we might see with this? And I am trying to just answer that!

A Little Knowledge Of The Past (And Present Too)

It’s no secret anymore that our dear Google and Facebook and many more are trying to invade our privacy for reasons only known to them. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you should read on.

Starting with Facebook, the social networking site proved to us that it is certainly not a decent one when the Cambridge Analytica fiasco came to surface. While we thought this debacle could be the first and the last, the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company continued to share our data without our knowledge and eventually made us realize that FB is just not safe at all.

After various standalone investigations, fines, and steps on part of Facebook, the company might get into the good books of its users, but it’s a long way away.

Google, on the other hand, has a monopoly in the market with its various products, the most popular one being Android. Another known fact is that it ain’t innocent either and is known to follow malpractices such as manipulation of Google searches, tracking without consent, and what not.

While the aforementioned sounds familiar, Amazon’s deeds are on the list as well, and we know that when we call out for Alexa, that little digital assistant knows a lot about us.

DOJ Investigation

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division will be investigating whether or not companies are following unfair practices to either eliminate competition or acquire user data, thus harming users in some way.

“Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division.

Additionally, the investigation could also involve Apple as it is amongst the big and popular tech companies.

Impact of DOJ Investigation

Like a coin has two sides to it, the DOJ investigation could have two consequences: a negative one on the companies and a positive one on us users.

Tech companies have been following various methods to do business and not every move is a good one. While it is fair for them, it isn’t for us and the investigation’s result could lead them into stopping such practices. Users can take a sigh of relief, given that the investigation is likely to result in some safer measures so that their privacy is not invaded.

The investigation announcement has begun impacting the big companies already as Google’s (around $7.6 billion off its value), Facebook’s (around $8.4 billion off its value), Amazon’s ($9.8 billion), and Apple’s ( $6.8 billion) share prices have started to hit a low, totaling up to around $33 billion loss on part of all the companies.

As for the other companies, they might not have to worry about the competition they get from popular tech majors. Another question that needs to be addressed is up to what extent should governments interfere in the operations of tech companies?

Having said that, we need to wait until something concrete pops up after the investigation. Until then, stay tuned to this space and let us know your thoughts on this!