For Context: Antitrust laws and the new monopoly game

In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was the first federal law to outlaw monopolistic business practices. Designed to promote competition and protect consumers, this Gilded Age legislation remains relevant in today’s tech-driven economy.

In fact, Google has been declared a monopolist in two separate antitrust cases — one focused on its control of search and the other on its ad tech practices. Both cases reached critical moments in 2025.

This episode of For Context traces the evolution of antitrust law in the U.S., from the era of robber barons to the rise of Big Tech.

As former Chair of the FTC Lina Khan noted on The Daily Show, the Sherman Act was a response to the Industrial Revolution and the concentrated power of industrial titans. Landmark cases against Standard Oil, AT&T and Microsoft show that while industries and technologies change, the courts have consistently upheld the principle that markets function best when no single player can rig the system.

Antitrust law once dismantled oil trusts and cracked telecom giants. Today, it’s being tested against software empires. The central question is: Can a 19th-century law still rein in 21st-century giants built on data, algorithms and AI?