Google is very familiar with all sorts of criticisms regarding the dominance of their business from countries throughout the European Union. They have had to pay fines, go to courts, and a wide range of other activities in order to defend themselves. According to a German cabinet minister, however, that is not quite enough.
Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economy minister and vice chancellor, said “A breakup, of the kind that has been carried out for electricity and gas grids, must be seriously considered here. But it can only be a last resort. That’s why we are focusing on anti-trust style regulation of Internet platforms.”
Many individuals and businesses in the EU are upset because there is no viable competition for Google in the area, effectively giving them a monopoly. Last week about 400 companies throughout Europe announced that they were submitting an anti-trust complaint against Google. These companies have formed an alliance, known as “Open Internet Project” and claims that Google promotes its own products in the search engine results, resulting in an unfair market to rivals.
Gabriel went on to comment about Google saying, “It’s about nothing less than the future of the democracy in the digital age, and therefore also about the freedom, emancipation, participation and self-determination of 500 million people in Europe.” Sensationalist comments like this aside, this is something Google will need to keep a close eye on the situation that is brewing in Europe.
So far, Google’s only public response has been a statement from Phillipp Justus, who is the managing director of Google Germany. He said, “We are surprised by the opinion of the minister of economics that companies like Google would harm users, economy and society.”
