*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).
Cheddar News checks in on what to look out for on The Day Ahead as earnings season continues with TJX Cos., Target and Take Two Interactive among those reporting on Wednesday. April housing starts data is also set to be released while Netflix will hold its upfront presentation virtually amid a continued writers' strike.
Billy McFarland, who served four years in prison for the failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas that saw investors lose millions, is back. McFarland joined Cheddar News to explain a new Fyre Festival he is planning along with a Broadway musical, both in the works.
Retail sales saw a modest uptick in April as inflation eased somewhat as consumers look toward the summer season to spend some more. Mario Payne, financial planner for Toams Financial, joined Cheddar News to provide some guidance on how to work up a responsible summer budget plan.
New York Expands Regulations for Adult-Use Marijuana Dispensaries
Dryden Pence, chief investment officer with Pence Capital, joined Cheddar News to discuss Tuesday's market session and touched on what the Federal Reserve may decide on at its next meeting as inflation continues to play a role and consumer spending remains firm.
The Internal Revenue Service said that black taxpayers are audited at a higher rate than would be expected, according to an internal investigation.
Stellantis is telling owners of nearly 220,000 Jeep Cherokee SUVs worldwide to park them outdoors and away from other vehicles because the power liftgates can catch fire even when the engines are off.
After years of explosive growth during the pandemic, Home Depot’s revenue during the first quarter fell short of expectations and the company cut its profit and sales outlook for the year
The head of the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT told Congress on Tuesday that government intervention "will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful” AI systems.
Financial journalist Kristin Myers joins Cheddar News to talk about how the U.S. defaulting on its national debt could trickle down to your wallet.
