Earlier this week, a large group of states asked a federal court to reinstate an antitrust lawsuit against Meta, challenging the technology company's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. California also recently filed an antitrust suit against Amazon, claiming the retailer punishes companies offering lower prices on other websites.
Recent polling by the Economist and YouGov on antitrust issues among major companies in general finds that it is one area where Democrats, Republicans, and Independents can find common ground. They share concern over a lack of competition among major companies, as well as support for the government investigating anti-competitive practices. Similar shares of Democrats (67% say it's very or somewhat serious), Republicans (64%), and Independents (62%) say a dearth of competition is a serious problem.
Two-thirds of Americans (66%) support the Federal Trade Commission conducting antitrust probes — such as investigations into price-fixing, monopolizing actions, and predatory pricing — into major companies, including 77% of Democrats, 62% of Republicans, and 56% of Independents.
– Carl Bialik and Linley Sanders contributed to this article
This poll was conducted on September 17 - 20, 2022 among 1,500 U.S. adult citizens. Explore more on the methodology and data for this Economist/YouGov poll.
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