US technology giant Apple is being sued by the US government for allegedly building an anti-competitive “moat” around its monopolistic iPhone ecosystem.

According to The Iran Project,The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its lawsuit on Thursday in New Jersey federal court, alleging that Apple had used “broad-based, exclusionary conduct” to make it harder for Americans to switch smartphones and for companies to provide applications, products and services to iPhone users. The federal government was joined by 16 state attorneys general in lodging the civil claim.

“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “We allege that Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law. If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”