Back in November, it was possible to dismiss the Trump administration’s antitrust suit against Google as too weak, too narrow and too late. But now more than 40 US states – and the US Federal Trade Commission – have filed suit against another tech giant: Facebook. It seems unlikely to be the last major lawsuit against technology giants.
Though these cases are ostensibly about antitrust violations, they are a sign of something bigger: the revival of a longstanding antimonopoly tradition in the United States. This particular view of large, powerful corporations – as threats to the political order – has repeatedly played a significant role in the nation’s history.