"In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, five Senators - Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) - asked for details about any settlement talks between those companies and the Trump administration. They're interested in whether Google secured favorable treatment as a result of the payout, including leniency in multiple ongoing antitrust lawsuits, something they warn could constitute an illegal bribe."
"Google recently appeared in court to determine how a judge should neutralize its monopoly in the ad tech sector - with the Department of Justice arguing for a dramatic breakup. The government could still choose to settle that case with far less drastic remedies. Google is also entangled in a search antitrust suit, where a judge proposed milder remedies than the preceding Biden administration asked for, and the Trump administration will be in charge of deciding how hard to push an appeal."
Five senators — Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, Richard Blumenthal, and Jeff Merkley — requested details from Google and YouTube about any settlement talks with the Trump administration regarding YouTube's $24.5 million payment to Donald Trump. They asked whether the payout secured favorable treatment, including leniency in multiple ongoing antitrust lawsuits, which could amount to an illegal bribe. The settlement resolved a 2021 lawsuit over Trump's suspension from the platform despite weak legal rationale. Google currently faces antitrust litigation in ad tech and search where DOJ remedies and potential appeals could be influenced by the settlement.
Read at The Verge
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