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Justice Department announces broad antitrust review of big tech

Thoughts?

Here is another link in case people can't access that one:

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/23/justice-antitrust-technology-giants-1428262

Certainly seems like the big two always buy up platforms that reach a certain point of popularity. YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and however many other swallowed up by Google and Facebook. I think only Snapchat and Twitter have remained independent.

The growth and popularity of new social media platforms has always seemed pretty organic though. You can't force popularity as Google found out with Google+

Nope, you can just buy it out and profit.


Or run it into the ground. Either way, as long as it isn't in competition.

The Justice Department is launching a sweeping antitrust review into whether the nation's biggest online platforms are reducing competition or stifling innovation, a development that threatens to heighten the risks for Silicon Valley in the ballooning Washington scrutiny of the power wielded by companies like Google and Facebook." -snip

^
I was assured this could not happen in a free market, as the market would decide.

Free market just means everyones allowed to compete. The anti-regs are mostly on about stuff like building code regulations where they're protecting the public in theory, but in practice they keep out competition with stupid things like the exact height of a sink, which requires stripping down the entire building and starting from scratch.


Or in some cases, regulators get "captured" by industry leads, and become high class muscle for their interests, which includes being a barrier to entry for competitor's.

good