36 states and D.C. accuse Google of violating antitrust laws in new lawsuit
CBSN
The number of legal challenges Google is facing continues to grow as a coalition of attorneys general from 36 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the search giant on Wednesday alleging the company is engaged in anti-competitive behavior and monopolizing the Play Store.
Google is currently facing three other federal antitrust lawsuits, including one from the Justice Department that alleges the company's dominant search engine has allowed it to become a "monopoly gatekeeper" of the internet. But Wednesday's lawsuit is the first to challenge Google's new policy to force all app developers who want to use the Play Store to pay a 30% commission on sales. The new policy from Google will go into effect in September. "To collect and maintain this extravagant commission, Google has employed anti-competitive tactics to diminish and disincentivize competition in Android app distribution," the lawsuit claims. It adds, "Google has not only targeted potentially competing app stores, but also has ensured that app developers themselves have no reasonable choice but to distribute their apps through the Google Play Store."On May 7, health influencer Paul Saladino, M.D.. posted a video to his X account that promoted feeding "raw dairy" to infants. The post received over 90,000 views and sparked strong backlash before it was removed the following day. Saladino regularly advocates for "animal-based" diets featuring raw milk, including on his TikTok channel where he has over half a million followers.
Everywhere you look, things are getting more complicated. Our phones have over a thousand settings. Showerheads come with apps. Cars have touchscreens. Ovens have touchscreens. "There's no doubt that 'featuritis' is real," said design consultant Jakob Nielsen. "Most of these things are too complicated."
New research is adding to the evidence linking ultra-processed foods to health concerns. The study tracked people's habits over 30 years and found those who reported eating more of certain ultra-processed foods had a slightly higher risk of death — with four categories of foods found to be the biggest culprits.