Battle for Chrome: Google talks about the dire consequences of browser alienation for the US and innovation

Google issued a statement in response to the US Department of Justice’s proposal to forcibly divest the company of its project to develop the Chrome browser and, in the future, the Android mobile platform.

Image source: Solen Feyissa / unsplash.com

The department had the opportunity to solve the problem in the area where it, in its opinion, directly manifests itself, the company noted. It could demand the termination of agreements to install Google as the default search in the Apple ecosystem, the Mozilla Firefox browser, as well as on partner devices. But instead, the Justice Department “has decided to push through a radical interventionist agenda that will harm Americans and America’s global technological leadership,” as well as disrupt the operation of a number of Google products, in addition to its search service. The company listed the threats that, in its opinion, the department’s proposal poses.

• The forced divestment of Chrome, and eventually Android, would jeopardize the security and privacy of millions of Americans.
• Google will have to disclose to an indefinite number of American and foreign companies not only its innovative solutions and search results, but also the personal search queries of Americans.
• The company will be forced to reduce investments in artificial intelligence, the most important modern innovation in which Google plays a leading role.
• The measure proposed by the Ministry of Justice will harm innovative projects, including Mozilla Firefox, whose fate depends on the search agreement with Google.
• Access to Google’s search service for citizens will be deliberately limited.
• US authorities have announced their intention to form a “Technical Committee” with the power to make decisions regarding Google’s search service – this would mean enormous power over what people do on the Internet.

In particular, even on Google Pixel phones, not one, but two selection screens will be shown before access to the search engine is opened, and the design of these screens will have to be approved by the Technical Committee. The court recognized that Google offers “the highest quality search engine in the industry, which has earned the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users,” the company recalled. But the Justice Department’s proposal would expand the government’s powers on an unprecedented scale, something Google said would harm American consumers, developers and small businesses, and would “jeopardize America’s economic and technological leadership at a time when it is needed most.”