Section 230 'Going Nowhere,' But Google Has True Antitrust Risk, Munster Says

Potential changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 are "going nowhere," but mega-cap tech giants will face new legal challenges in the coming years, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster said Wednesday on CNBC's "Fast Money."

Munster Says Google Most Exposed: The most pressing and realistic regulatory effort to change the big-tech landscape relates to Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL, Munster said.

Alphabet's business consists of 42 products and services, one of which is Search, where it has a "clear monopoly," the research analyst-turned-venture capitalist told CNBC. 

Regulators and lawmakers are likely to take a closer look at how Google's Search business impacts local businesses, he said. 

In contrast, Munster said privacy and data sharing concerns at Facebook, Inc. FB have already been addressed — and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN using its AWS business to fund the retail business is a "distant argument."

Tech companies deserve credit for showing how they play a role in "helping us move forward as a globe," he said.

This should result in some goodwill with regulators, in his view. 

"If the goal of regulators is to protect consumers, I think there is a case consumers have a greater dependency and affection toward these products today than they did four months ago." 

Adami Says Google Fall Short Of Monopoly: There are a lot of search engines, but Google just happens to be "better than everyone else," "Fast Money" trader Guy Adami said.

Google is "the cream of the crop," but far short of being a "monopoly in the true sense of the word," he said. 

Related Links:

Loup Ventures' Munster On Alphabet's Q1: 'Hats Off To Them' For Ad Performance

Munster: Apple Is The Best Way To Invest In The '5G Cycle'

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Posted In: Analyst ColorAnalyst RatingsTechMediaGene MunsterGoogleMonopolySearchSection 230
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