(CNN) Just days after Maryland became the first state in the country to impose a tax on digital advertising targeting Big Tech, lobbying groups representing companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google are trying to stop it. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the groups allege that the state law is "deeply flawed" as well as "unlawful" and "unconstitutional." "If Maryland wants to tax advertising there is a legal way to do so -- they did not even attempt to go down that road." The new tax comes as policymakers increasingly target the economic dominance of large tech platforms, some of which have built massive digital advertising businesses. Ferguson had said the bill targeted companies that make more than $100 million a year selling digital advertising; Facebook and Google generated $84 billion and $147 billion in digital advertising revenue last year, respectively.

Source: The Nation February 19, 2021 00:02 UTC