Statement on the Public’s Lack of Access to the US v Google Trial on Search Monopolization
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 12, 2023
CONTACT: Ashley Woolheater, woolheater@openmarketsinstitute.org
WASHINGTON – The Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute released the following statement to underline our deep concerns about the public’s lack of access to US v Google, a trial on the illegality of Google’s monopolization over online search and search advertising, which began today in the US District Court for the District of Columbia:
“The Center for Journalism and Liberty is concerned and disappointed by Judge Mehta’s decision to carry out the trial proceedings behind closed doors. Only journalists based in Washington D.C., or from newsrooms across the country with sufficient resources to send reporters to D.C., will be able to attend the proceedings, and only on the days the court deems not “sensitive” to Google’s business.
“This decision impairs the public’s right to information of national interest and restricts the ability of journalists all over the world to access first-hand information as the trial unfolds.
“This trial is now a test for American journalism to bring the truth to the public. We strongly support reporters’ access to as much information as possible during the trial, and we urge them to report any irregularities or actions that they deem obstacles to their doing their jobs.”
Judge Amit Mehta made the decision to limit public access to the trial on Friday, September 8th 2023, when he denied a motion filed by various public interest organizations, including Open Markets Institute, that requested the court to provide public access to an audio feed of the unsealed portions of the trial. The motion was filed in response to Google’s opposition to participating in video recordings or in making available an audio feed of the trial, to which the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had no objection.
The DOJ, alongside dozens of states and the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto, are suing Google for illegal monopolization of the online search and search advertising markets. Filed in 2020, US v Google became the first trial in a series of antitrust enforcement efforts the United States is bringing to foster a fair and diverse competitive digital market, including by scrutinizing Big Tech corporations’ anticompetitive practices.
***
The Center for Journalism & Liberty at Open Markets strives to ensure that the news media of the United States and our democratic allies is fully independent and robustly funded in the 21st century’s digital economy.
###