US Government, 17 States Sue Amazon in Landmark Monopoly Case

Facts

• The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alongside 17 state attorneys general (AGs), has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, claiming the company unfairly promotes itself at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.¹
• The lawsuit, filed in Seattle, Wash., alleges that Amazon illegally punishes merchants for offering lower prices elsewhere, as well as coerces sellers to use its logistics service if they want their goods to appear on the Amazon Prime subscription service.²
• The FTC, whose chair, Lina Khan, has called for regulating Amazon since her days as a law student in 2017, claimed the company 'exploits its monopolies in ways that enrich Amazon but harm its customers.'³
• The FTC and the states, who are calling for a permanent injunction against the practices alleged in the suit, further claim that Amazon replaces relevant search results with paid ads, favors its product in its search results, and charges excessive fees to sellers.⁴
• In response, Amazon argued that 'the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,' adding that 'If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses.'¹
• This lawsuit, which continues a probe that began under the Trump admin., is the latest federal action aimed at tech giants, including the Justice Dept.'s current lawsuits against both Google and Apple.²

Sources: ¹CNN, ²Wall Street Journal, ³New York Times and ⁴Washington examiner.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Federal trade commission. Amazon uses coercive and punitive tactics to keep its top spot in the e-commerce market and then raises prices for goods due to the inorganic lack of competition that would normally bring them down. This tech behemoth has continued this regime of economic suppression for far too long, so, thankfully, the FTC — backed by a bipartisan group of states — is finally laying down the law.
• Narrative B, as provided by Fortune. Since 2021, FTC Chair Lina Khan has unfairly targeted Amazon and its executives in an egregiously handled probe that shows a clear personal vendetta against CEO Andrew Jassy and Jeff Bezos. Khan has publicly shown her bias against Amazon since her 2017 article berating the company, and she is now abusing her power to target Amazon and its key figures.