The DOJ is still pushing to break up Google: A revised proposal filed Friday with the US Department of Justice (Judge Amit Mehta)

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is still pushing to break up Google, according to a revised proposal filed Friday with federal Judge Amit Mehta. As in its proposal last year, the DOJ says Google should be forced to sell its web browser, Google Chrome, and potentially Android, as punishment for being a monopolist, as Judge Mehta found last year, reports The New York Times.

The DOJ formally brought its case against Google back in 2020, the most significant tech antitrust case since the DOJ’s years-long battle against Microsoft in the 1990s. The lawsuit alleged that Google has used anticompetitive tactics to protect its search dominance and forge contracts that ensure it’s the default search engine on web browsers and smartphones. Because of its hold on search, the lawsuit claimed, Google can adjust the auction system through which it sells ads and increase prices for advertisers, and rake in more revenue from that.

In order to be successful in search, it is necessary for a company to provide the best search technology. It also says consumers are easily able to change their default search engine, and that Google does face competition from Microsoft and others.

Can The DOJ Stand Up Under Trump? A Comment on the DoJ Spin-Off and the Doj Detection Proposal

Both spin-offs were part of the proposal the DOJ filed last year. But whether it would hold that line under Trump, whom tech companies have plied with money and praise since his election, has been a mystery. The President has stepped back some Biden-era tech regulations on things like AI safety and cryptocurrency, but has also suggested that the threat of regulation can be useful for getting the results he wants.