Google antitrust remedies and California social media law face legal scrutiny

Legal proceedings regarding Google’s search monopoly are entering the remedy phase following a ruling that the company acted as a monopolist. One proposed remedy by the Department of Justice is a ban on revenue-sharing agreements between Google and browser vendors. Such a move could significantly impact Mozilla, which receives an estimated $410 million to $420 million annually from Google to maintain its status as a default search engine. While the court noted Mozilla’s market share is under 3%, the organization relies heavily on this revenue to fund the Firefox browser and Gecko engine.

In a separate legal development, a federal district court in San Jose denied motions from major technology companies seeking to block California’s SB 976, the “Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act.” The law targets “addictive feeds,” defined as algorithmic recommendation systems with personalization. It requires websites to block these feeds for children without verifiable parental consent and imposes a default one-hour daily limit on access. The legislation also grants the state Attorney General authority over age verification methods.