U.S. regulators and 17 states sued Amazon on Tuesday in a pivotal case that could prove existential for the retail giant.
In the sweeping antitrust lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general paint Amazon as a monopolist that suffocates competitors and raises costs for both sellers and shoppers.
The FTC, tasked with protecting U.S. consumers and market competition, argues that Amazon punishes sellers for offering lower prices elsewhere on the internet and pressures them into paying for Amazon's delivery network.
"Amazon is a monopolist and it is exploiting its monopolies in ways that leave shoppers and sellers paying more for worse service," FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters on Tuesday.
