Facebook Sued By 48 Attorneys General, FTC For Allegedly Obtaining Social Media Monopoly – IOTW Report

Facebook Sued By 48 Attorneys General, FTC For Allegedly Obtaining Social Media Monopoly

Federalist: Forty-eight U.S. Attorneys General led by New York filed a lawsuit against Facebook Wednesday arguing that the social media giant violated antitrust law by engaging in anticompetitive practices through buying out smaller rivals. The group of state law enforcement executives were joined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filing a separate lawsuit.

Both suits center on Facebook’s purchases of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 for $1 billion and $19 billion respectively, while also targeting smaller firms. The acquisitions, plaintiffs allege, illegally stifled online competition. The FTC is seeking to force Facebook sell Instagram and WhatsApp.

“Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition,” said FTC Director of Bureau Competition Ian Conner. “Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive.” more

7 Comments on Facebook Sued By 48 Attorneys General, FTC For Allegedly Obtaining Social Media Monopoly

Comments are closed.