Just in: Facebook sued by FTC, 48 state attorneys general alleging it operates an illegal monopoly.https://t.co/yLenNUK0G6
— Jess 🇺🇸 (@jessiprincey) December 9, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) along with 46 states, Washington, D.C., and the territory of Guam filed an anti-trust lawsuit against social media giant Facebook today.
The lawsuit accuses the social networking platform of purchasing competitors in order to stifle competition in the marketplace. It cites Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion and WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion as prime examples among many.
As part of the lawsuit the FTC seeks to have Facebook divest both properties.
“After identifying two significant competitive threats to its dominant position – Instagram and WhatsApp – Facebook moved to squelch those threats by buying the companies, reflecting CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s view, expressed in a 2008 email, that ‘it is better to buy than compete,’” the FTC lawsuit reads.
Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and South Dakota were the states to not join the lawsuit.