ND joins lawsuits against Facebook and Google

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Many of us use Facebook and Google every day, but those two entities control more of our digital space than we realize. Both media giants are now involved in anti-competition lawsuits, claiming they’re monopolizing the market.Facebook and Google have been hit with a string of antitrust lawsuits recently, and North Dakota’s Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, R-N.D., has specifically signed onto two of them: one against Google with nine other attorneys general and the other against Facebook with 48 total states signing on.The lawsuits are claiming Facebook and Google are monopolizing the worldwide digital market. “I’m not sure we’ve ever seen this much power consolidated in these few companies,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D. Rep. Armstrong, sitting on an Antitrust Subcommittee, said there’s agreement across all political aisles that these media giants have consolidated too much of the market.Facebook owns the four most downloaded apps in the last decade after purchasing Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and Whatsapp for $19 billion in 2014.Stenehjem said this may violate antitrust laws. “Every time a company comes and looks like they may be offering competition,  » Read More