Regulators Just Put a Target on Apple’s Back

Forget WWDC: The company now faces major scrutiny along with other tech giants

Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

While the tech world’s eyes were fastened on Apple’s annual developer conference Monday, the news with the potential to shake the industry had nothing to do with the Mac Pro, iMessage Memoji, or iOS 13’s Dark Mode. It was the seismic rumbling of antitrust activity emanating from Washington, D.C.

The tremors began Friday night with a report that the Department of Justice was preparing an antitrust probe of Google. They continued Sunday with word that the Federal Trade Commission might take a closer look at Amazon’s competitive practices. The aftershocks rolled on through Monday, with reports that the DOJ and FTC might also have Apple and Facebook, respectively, in their crosshairs. And then came word that the House Judiciary Committee is planning a sweeping antitrust probe of its own.

What it all means isn’t clear just yet. Both the DOJ and FTC have declined comment, leaving others to piece together the patchwork of anonymously sourced reports. It seems that neither has actually launched an investigation yet into any of the companies, which helps to explain why no one has reported on what their nature or focus might be. The probe by House Democrats is the only one that has been formally announced.

In a sign of how seriously the markets take this news, all four of the tech companies in question saw their stocks dip Monday, shedding billions of dollars in value.

What we do know is that the two federal agencies in charge of antitrust enforcement responsibilities appear to have gotten together and divvied up jurisdiction over four giant U.S. tech platforms. It’s hard to imagine why they’d do that unless they were planning to take some action.

The scrutiny alone, regardless of its ultimate outcome, could shape how some of the world’s most powerful companies behave moving forward. And if the investigations lead to serious consequences — breaking up Facebook, for example — they could reshape the internet in ways more profound than the death of iTunes or the forking of iPadOS.