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Facebook was sued by the United States competition authority (the Federal Trade Commission) and by almost every state in the country for allegedly adopting anti-competitive strategies. The tech giant is accused of acquiring rivals to illegally impede competition through unfair practices.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) believes that Facebook’s acquisitions – which allowed the company to become an unrivaled powerhouse at the time – should be undone. These accounts can include purchases from WhatsApp and Instagram which, with Facebook, make up the most popular social media trio in the world.
In a statement cited by Reuters, the competition authority says that Facebook may ultimately be forced to sell assets as a result of abusive practices in the digital domain. “For nearly a decade, Facebook has been using its dominance and monopoly to crush smaller rivals and end competition, at the expense of users,” said Letitia, a lawyer who led the US states investigation Cited by The New York Times.
In turn, the director of the competition branch of the FTC considers that Facebook’s actions “deny consumers the benefits of competition.” Ian Conner adds that the regulator’s goal is to ensure that competition is restored so that “innovation” can flourish.
The first major acquisition took place more than eight years ago: it was in April 2012 when Facebook announced the purchase of Instagram, a photo-sharing application, for a billion dollars (762 million euros). Two years later, in 2014, Facebook acquired the world’s most successful messaging platform, WhatsApp, for € 13.8 billion.
