US president Donald Trump has blasted the European Union’s decision to fine Google $5.1 billion (£3.8bn) after an investigation into the search engine giant’s practices.
The fine was confirmed earlier this week by Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s competition chief, who said the penalty was for three types of illegal restrictions on the use of Android.
Trump took to Twitter to condemn the decision: “I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!”
I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
The investigation by the European Commission found that Google had abused its dominance by making its search engine the default on most Android phones.
Vestager said the firm’s practices have “denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits”.
Going forward Google will be forced to unbundle its Chrome browser and Google search apps from Android, meaning phone makers won’t have to ship Android phones with these apps preinstalled.
The sum is a record for breaking EU antitrust law, and is almost double the €2.4 billion Google was fined last year for using its dominant search engine to build an internet shopping service.