DOJ: Antitrust Law Covers Viewpoint Competition in News Markets
The DOJ Antitrust Division told a federal court Friday to reject news outlets' arguments that antitrust laws play no part in protecting viewpoint competition in news markets, citing the consumer welfare and personal freedom benefits of such competition. The nonprofit…
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Children's Health Defense alleged in its suit that defendant news outlets' collaboration with tech giants, while ostensibly about combating online misinformation, actually involved censoring and excluding competing online news publishers from such platforms as Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, which violates antitrust law. The defendants are Washington Post Co., Associated Press, Reuters and BBC. Their claim that the rule of law exempts viewpoint collusion from antitrust laws "would free major news organizations and dominant digital platforms to block competitive threats that offer alternative, competing viewpoints," DOJ told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a statement of interest Friday (docket 1:23-cv-02735). "Controlling precedent shows that the Sherman Act protects all forms of competition, including competition in information quality." The DOJ said it took no position on the application of the law to the facts alleged in the complaint.