Vox Sentences - What Google's trial means for you

Monday, September 12, 2023:

Hey subscribers, 

It’s Future Perfect fellow Rachel returning for your Tuesday edition of Sentences. Here’s what’s happening today:

Up first: Google goes to court

In other news: Deadly flooding in Libya, Kim Jong Un makes it to Russia, and further abuse allegations against the Catholic Church come to light 

What Google’s trial means for you

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Today, the Justice Department's case against Google begins. The DOJ  — and most US states and territories — filed lawsuits against Google in 2020, arguing it has a search engine monopoly that violates antitrust law.

The lowdown: The trial against Google is just the first of many the tech world faces. The Federal Trade Commission has a forthcoming case against Meta and could go to court with Amazon, too. 

• Much of the Google lawsuit hinges on the question: Which search engine do you use, and why? Ninety percent of Americans use Google, and while the company claims that’s because it’s the best search engine, the DOJ argues it’s because the company pays billions to be the default browser on most devices. 
  
  

• A similar antitrust trial decades ago took down the formerly predominant search engine, Internet Explorer. In 1998, the DOJ sued Microsoft for forcing its browser onto users. Eventually, the DOJ settled with Microsoft, allowing it to stay in one piece in exchange for millions in fines, but while the company had been tied up in court, new competitors like Google emerged.
  
  
• The issue with Google’s dominance is that it creates a lack of choice (at least, that’s what the DOJ is arguing). While Google compares paying for default browser status to brands paying for prime shelf space at a grocery store, the DOJ claims the company has created an environment where it’s impossible to compete. For the same reasons — a lack of money to compete with the behemoth that is Google — the suit also claims the practices have stifled innovation. 

The stakes: While a ruling on this case isn’t expected until next year (and it’s likely a lengthy appeals process will follow), the outcome “may be hugely consequential” for businesses and consumers alike, writes Vox senior tech reporter Sara Morrison.  

If Google loses and gets broken up into smaller companies, consumers could end up having more choice in which search engine serves as their default. If Google wins, that will set a precedent for the other Big Tech companies about how far they can go to achieve market dominance. 

“Something I often think about when I’m reporting on and writing about this is how much of the internet Google actually or effectively owns,” Sara told me. “This trial is about how the internet works now, who gets to control it, and if our old antitrust laws can work in a digital economy where so many services are ‘free’ and their influence is often invisible. If you use the internet — and, if you’re reading this, you do — then this should matter to you.”

Read Sara’s explainer here.

As many as 10,000 people missing amid catastrophic flooding in Libya 

AFP via Getty Images

On Tuesday, officials from the North African country of Libya announced that more than 3,000 people were believed to have been killed, and thousands more are missing, after two dams burst as a result of Mediterranean storm Daniel. 

• This is the deadliest flood in Africa since 1927. Since 1900, only one other flood (in Algeria) has been as deadly as Libya’s, with 3,000 resulting deaths. With thousands missing, it’s likely Libya’s flood will become the deadliest on the continent in over a century. [CNN]
  
  
• The already underresourced Derna, a coastal city in northeast Libya, was one of the hardest hit by the floods. “I have visited Derna quite frequently. I have been shocked that a city of 100,000 people does not have a single hospital that is functioning,” Hani Shennib, president of the National Council on US-Libya Relations, told Al Jazeera. The flooding is “the straw that has broken the camel’s back.” [Al Jazeera]
  
  
• The floods in Libya come just days after a quake in Morocco killed more than 2,900 people. The disasters were equally devastating for the North African countries, and the humanitarian needs are huge, a representative from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told the press Tuesday. [NBC News]

Hunter becomes the hunted

Hunter Biden is set to be indicted this month. The WSJ’s Aruna Viswanatha goes over the evidence with us, and Politico’s Jonathan Lemire looks at what it all means for President Biden’s reelection bid.

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia ahead of his meeting with the country’s president, Vladimir Putin. US officials have warned the meeting could result in an arms deal between the two nations. [CNN]
  
  

• A newly released study found over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Switzerland. The over-year-long study discovered that since the mid-20th century, abuse was prolific in the church across the European country. [ABC News]
  
  

• Today, the Israeli Supreme Court heard the first challenge in the court case against the prime minister’s judicial overhaul plan. When Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled the plan earlier this year, it was met with mass protests and warnings that it weakened Israeli democracy. [AP]
  
  

• Following deadly earthquakes over the weekend, the Moroccan government rejected some offers of foreign aid. While the decisions may seem surprising, Moroccan officials have stated that “a lack of co-ordination in such cases would be counterproductive,” arguing too much aid all at once would lead to chaos. [BBC]  

(PS: I previously wrote about this bottleneck effect with post-disaster aid.)

Wildfires everywhere 

What if cash replaced housing vouchers?

The lessons learned from a summer of hellish travel

How cars ruin wild animals’ lives

Today’s crossword

Returning to the news of yesterday, we have a correction: President Biden was the first sitting US president not to commemorate the 9/11 attacks at one of the three memorial sites or the White House. On prior occasions, sitting presidents honored the victims of the attacks from the White House and not from memorial sites.

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