Google and Amazon Are at the Center of a Storm Brewing Over Big Tech

Google and Amazon have thrived as American regulators largely kept their distance. That may be changing. Politicians on the right and left are decrying the tech companies’ enormous power. President Donald Trump (R-NY) and other Republicans have taken swipes at Amazon over taxes and at Google over search results they say are biased. Democrats have focused on whether the companies stifle competition. And now, the two federal agencies that handle antitrust matters have split up oversight of the two companies, with the Justice Department taking Google and the Federal Trade Commission taking Amazon. The decisions do not mean that the agencies have opened official federal investigations, but by staking claims over the two tech giants, the agencies are signaling the potential for greater scrutiny.