OAN’s Sophia Flores
12:07 PM – Tuesday, September 26, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys general have filed an antitrust lawsuit against the E-commerce company, Amazon.
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On Tuesday, the FTC and the 17 state attorneys general accused Amazon of illegally maintaining its monopoly power to “inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle innovation for consumers and business.”
The states that joined the FTC lawsuit were Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
“Our complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. “The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them.”
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the world’s largest online retailer is operating without competition in two markets, which in turn is allowing the company to conduct “monopolistic practices.”
However, Amazon released a counterstatement after the suit was announced, calling the legal action wrong and accusing the FTC of losing focus of its original mission.
“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,” Amazon said. “The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon’s store.”
The announcement follows a separate legal action taken against Amazon by the FTC earlier this year.
In June, the E-commerce company was accused of utilizing deceitful tactics in order to trick millions of customers into enrolling into its Prime subscription service.
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