Ex-Antitrust Chief Argues Google Split Could Revitalize Online Freedom

Today, we’re diving into the significant possibility that the United States government might dismantle Google. To explore this topic, I welcomed back Jonathan Kanter, the former assistant attorney general for antitrust under the Biden administration, on Decoder.

Jonathan departed the DOJ following President Trump’s election but was instrumental in the major antitrust lawsuits that Google recently lost, which the Trump administration is still pursuing. In the initial case, the court ruled that Google unlawfully upheld its monopoly in web search through a series of default placement agreements, particularly concerning the iPhone. That case is currently in court for the second trial phase, during which a judge will determine the consequences—essentially, how Google will be penalized.

The government is seeking significant remedies: it desires for Google to divest its Chrome browser and to make its search data more available to competitors. Concurrently, Google has also lost another antitrust lawsuit. Recently, a separate court determined that the company “substantially harmed publishers and users on the web with its advertising monopoly.”

That latter case will also enter a remedies phase, and it’s quite likely the government will call for segments of Google’s ad tech system to be sold off as well. Naturally, Google has announced its intention to appeal all these rulings, meaning it will take several more years for this to resolve. However, the initial verdicts are clear, and the likelihood is high that both Google and the broader web landscape will look very different by the time everything is settled.

The search case originated during Trump’s initial presidency, but Jonathan and his team advanced it to trial and secured a victory. Additionally, Jonathan’s team initiated the Google ad tech case in 2023 and also filed a substantial antitrust lawsuit against Apple. For those who have heard Jonathan speak on the show, you know he was required to maintain a professional demeanor while at the DOJ. Now that he’s out, he can more freely express his genuine thoughts on what it entails to construct and win these cases and consider the next steps.

Unsurprisingly, Jonathan believes that breaking up Google is necessary, but you’ll find it intriguing to learn about how he assembled his team, the strategies he employed in constructing these two particular cases, and the audiences he aimed to address in the legal documents.