Apple Faces Possible Antitrust Lawsuit from U.S. Department of Justice: Report

Lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have reportedly started drafting a potential antitrust lawsuit against Apple — reports Politico, citing unnamed sources.

The DOJ has been investigating Apple and other tech giants for antitrust practices since 2019. It is already litigating a landmark lawsuit against Google for an alleged monopoly over search and search advertising, and Apple appears to be next in its crosshairs.

According to Politico‘s sources, several groups of prosecutors from the DOJ are currently piecing together a potential lawsuit. The DOJ’s antitrust division hopes to file the lawsuit by year’s end, but nothing is set in stone yet.

A December report indicated the DOJ was delaying a lawsuit against Apple due to a lack of funding. However, it seems that financial constraints have now eased as the department is preparing to bring its suit.

People familiar with the matter said the Justice Department has made no decisions as to whether or when to sue Apple. They noted that the DOJ could still end up not going through with it.

The DOJ began its antitrust probe into Apple with the tech giant’s App Store policies. However, sources told Politico that any potential lawsuit would extend well beyond the App Store and Apple’s sales commission on the platform.

Apple has been in the antitrust spotlight as of late for prohibiting third-party app stores on its platforms and allegedly stifling competitors like Tile and alternatives to Apple Pay, by locking down key hardware features like NFC, restricting rivals’ access to the Find My network, among other things.

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