In addition to the increasing scrutiny by the US and Australian governments, private lawsuits continue to add to the challenges that haunt numerous tech giants, including Google. As of now, Google and Facebook face ten major lawsuits circling the government antitrust investigations. According to the New York Times, most of them are based on fresh evidence that has come to light due to government investigations.
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The lawsuits indicate an impending doom for the two tech giants since their success would open the floodgates for millions of potential litigants in the form of the companies’ advertisers and publishers.
Facebook refused to comment on the lawsuits, while a Google spokeswoman said that the company intends to defend itself against the claims being made.
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According to a professor at the San Francisco law school, “There’s a fair amount of scrambling going on and folks trying to figure out what private suits might be successful and how to bring them.”
The private cases come in the wake of Google’s ongoing struggle against the Australian government and its threat to wrap up operations in Australia if the Australian government forces it to pay news publishers. According to experts, the success of the government cases against Google and Facebook at the trial will further pave the way for private lawsuits. It would allow lawyers to use the victories as a reference point and claim monetary damages for their clients.
Source: The New York Times
