The Justice Department (DOJ) is preparing a potential antitrust investigation involving Google, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday.
According to the report, Google is facing the possibility of investigation by the Justice Department over its search and other businesses.
Per the Journal, the Justice Department has already been in touch with third-party critics of Google.
Antitrust investigations can be carried out by the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but according to the report, the DOJ will be carrying out the probe. The report says that members of the DOJ’s antitrust division have spent recent weeks laying the groundwork for the potential investigation.
Google declined to comment. The DOJ did not immediately responded to Business Insider’s request for comment.
The FTC had previous led an antitrust case against Google, which closed in 2013. No action was taken against the tech giant at the time, though Google did agree to change some of its business practices including those involving its search advertising business.
The news comes amid growing calls for major tech companies like Google and Facebook to be broken up. Democratic Presidential Elizabeth Warren has led the charge, publishing her plan to “unwind” big tech companies in a Medium post this March.
Warren has showed no signs of shying away from her plan, as her “Break Up Big Tech” billboards were spotted near a busy San Francisco train station earlier this week.