U.S. sues Amazon.com for breaking antitrust law and harming consumers

investing.com:

By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on Tuesday, charging the online retailer with harming consumers with higher prices in the latest U.S. government legal action aimed at breaking Big Tech's dominance of the internet.

The lawsuit had been expected after years of complaints that Amazon.com and other tech giants abused their dominance of search, social media and online retailing to become gate keepers on the most lucrative aspects of the internet.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit, which was joined by 17 state attorneys general, follows a four-year investigation and federal lawsuits filed against Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s Google and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)' Facebook.

«The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon,» the agency said in a statement.

The FTC said that it was asking the court to issue a permanent injunction ordering Amazon.com to stop its unlawful conduct. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Seattle, where Amazon is based.

Amazon shares were down 3%.

The FTC said that Amazon, founded in 1994 and worth more than $1 trillion, punished sellers that sought to offer prices that were lower than Amazon's by making it difficult for consumers to find the seller on Amazon's platform.

Other allegations include that Amazon gave preference to its own products on its platforms over competitors also on the platform.

FTC Chair Lina Khan said that Amazon had used illegal tactics to fend