- 2023-10-13
The Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust complaint against Amazon
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) joined 17 state attorneys general in a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using a range of anti-competitive and unfair tactics to illegally maintain its monopoly position.
The FTC said in a statement that Amazon prevents competitors and sellers from lowering prices, undercuts the quality of products and services to consumers, overcharges sellers, stifles innovation, and prevents competitors from competing fairly with Amazon.
FTC Chairwoman Lena Khan said the indictment illustrates how Amazon used a range of punitive and coercive tactics to illegally maintain its monopoly position, and how Amazon used that monopoly to profit.
Amazon denies the allegations. Amazon senior Vice President David Zapolsky said in a statement that the lawsuit was "factually and legally wrong."
The antitrust subcommittee of the US House of Representatives has investigated Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple for 16 months, and released a report in October 2020 saying that the four tech giants use their dominant positions to stifle competition and stifle innovation. The Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google is pending.