*By Christian Smith*
A regulatory crackdown on behemoths like Alphabet and Facebook is more likely than ever, according to Brian McCullough, author of "How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone."
"That's where the money is, and that's where the power is," McCullough said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar. "It's inevitable that governments are going to start looking at too much power concentrated in one sector."
In recent months, Facebook ($FB) and its peers have come under fire from regulators in Europe over issues of data privacy. On Thursday, the United Kingdom's data watchdog fined Facebook £500,000 (just over $640,000) over a breach of user data in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
So far, European agencies have been the only groups to enact significant regulations on internet companies ー the primary example being the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires companies to disclose exactly what data they are collecting and gives users more control over their own information.
While Facebook has taken the most aggressive punches from critics over issues of data privacy, McCullough thinks Google's parent company Alphabet ($GOOGL) is the most likely to be implicated by anti-trust laws ー if the U.S. were to impose restrictions, that is.
"Even though Facebook gets all of the headlines, nobody hoovers up your data more than Google does," McCullough said.
Some candidates in this year's midterm primaries like Zephyr Teachout ー who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for New York State Attorney General ー have floated the idea of investigating companies like Alphabet and Facebook for antitrust infractions, but no such initiative has taken shape.
"How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone" is available in stores and online.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-day-of-reckoning-is-coming-for-big-internet-companies).
With high healthcare costs, bills can quickly add up. In some cases, it is possible to negotiate your medical bills. Barak Richman, law professor at George Washington University, joined Cheddar News to discuss the easiest way to talk to medical debt companies about what's owed.
Millions of people have selected insurance plans for 2024 but sometimes navigating them can be tricky time consuming and expensive. Paula Pant, host of 'Afford Anything' podcast, joined Cheddar News to break down what's needed to know about their insurance plans.
The European Union is investigating Elon Musk's X over alleged illicit content and disinformation on its platform. Cheddar News breaks it all down and discusses what it could mean for users.
Adobe and Figma called off their $20 million merger, Southwest Airlines gets fined, Nippon Steel is buying U.S. Steel and oil and gas prices surge after a pause in shipments.
With more employees being called back to the office, many workers are suddenly protesting by being in the office for as little time as possible. As the term suggests, coffee-badging means coming in for just enough time to have a cup of coffee, show your face, and swipe your badge.
Japan's Nippon steel is buying U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion.
Southwest Airlines will pay a $35 million fine as part of a settlement over a 2022 holiday season disaster that saw the airline cancel thousands of flights and leave millions of people stranded.
Cheddar News' Need2Know is brought to you by Securitize, which helps unlock broader access to alternative investments in private businesses, funds, and other alternative assets. The private credit boom is here and the Hamilton Lane Senior Credit Opportunities Fund has tripled in assets under management in just six months from November 2022 through April this year. Visit Securitize.io to learn more.
Stocks opened slightly higher after Monday's opening bell after several weeks of gains as the year closes out.
Big Business This Week is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
