“For almost a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and eliminate competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” James told reporters at a news conference.
Opposing the lawsuit, Jennifer Newstead, Facebook’s vice president and general counsel, described it as a revisionist story.
“This lawsuit runs the risk of sowing doubt and uncertainty about the US government’s own merger review process. And whether acquiring companies can really rely on the results of the legal process. It would also punish companies for protecting their investment. and free leverage technology from those who did it – not paying for innovation, making those companies less likely in the long term to make their platforms available to stimulate growth of new products and services, “he said.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction in federal court that could, among other things: require the divestment of assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp; prohibit Facebook from imposing anti-competitive conditions on software developers; and require the social media giant to request prior notification and approval for future mergers and acquisitions.
“Personal social media is critical to the lives of millions of Americans. Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. Our goal is to roll back Facebook’s anti-competitive behavior and restore competition to may innovation and free competition flourish, “said Ian Conner, Director of the FTC’s Office of Competition.
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