Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Monday urged the Federal Trade Commission to hold Google and Facebook accountable for potential privacy, data security and antitrust violations and publicly disclose whether it was investigating the tech giants.
"We understand that the FTC does not typically comment on nonpublic investigations, but the public discussion surrounding Google and other companies' conduct have made this a uniquely important national issue," the senators wrote in the letter.
"Accordingly, we respectfully request that the FTC consider publicly disclosing whether it is conducting an investigation of Google and/or other major online platforms and describe, in general terms, the nature of the conduct under examination in any such investigations," they added.
The senators in their letter pointed out how Google dominates web traffic (90 percent) while both Facebook and Google hold a large chunk of digital advertising in the U.S.
"This type of market dominance has amplified concerns about how those companies protect consumers' online information and about possible anticompetitive conduct that could harm consumers, innovation, and small business growth," the two senators wrote.
Facebook and Google are already in the crosshairs of the FTC's new competition task force, which monitors competition and considers possible antitrust violations in U.S. technology markets.
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