JAKARTA - A number of technology regulatory groups and competitions have called on the US Department of Justice to investigate YouTube, arguing that the video-streaming platform could allow Google and its parent company, Alphabet, to dominate entertainment at home.
In a letter dated Tuesday 11 June to the head of the Justice Department antitrust, Jonathan Kanter, American Economic Liberties Project, Demand Progress, and nine other groups expressed concern about YouTube's growth as a competitor to its cable and streaming services and pre-installation on smartphones and TVs sold in the US.
The groups called on regulators to investigate YouTube, which is one of the top streaming services in the US. Google already dominates the internet search market and is a leader in online advertising technology.
"YouTube has a decade-long track record of its dominance across marketplaces to get rid of competitors, lock in customers, and force the purchase of bundled services," the groups wrote.
The growth of YouTube TV, the company's subscription streaming service, is increasing Google's "hospitice dominance prospects", the groups said.
"Anyone looking for something to watch can see that this space is very competitive," said a YouTube spokesperson. He added that companies compete directly with streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ as well as other video platforms such as Meta and TikTok's Instagram.
In April, Alphabet reported its quarterly YouTube ad revenue of more than $8 billion, up 21% from the same period last year. Google executive Philipp Schindler said at the time that the platform had been the most watched streaming service in the US for more than a year, citing data from analytic firm Nielsen audience.
Google is currently facing two antitrust lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice and several states. One of them claims that the company is monopolizing the online search market and the other is that the company dominates the digital advertising technology market.
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Google has fought both cases, saying that success was achieved legally.
According to advocacy groups, YouTube is the "third leg of the bench that supports Google's monopoly."
Lee Hepner, a lawyer at the American Economic Liberties Project, compared groups' concerns about YouTube with behavior challenged in search cases, where antitrust enforcement alleged that the billions of dollars in revenue sharing agreement with smartphone makers allowed Google to maintain online search dominance.
"What is Google TV if not especially the distribution system for Google's own streaming service?" said Hepner.
Antitrust concerns about Big Tech have crossed several governments, with a case against Google and one against Meta Platforms raised under President Donald Trump's administration. President Joe Biden's antitrust enforcers have continued with the second case against Google and cases against Amazon.com and Apple.
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