US, States Plan to Sue Facebook

Patrick Hayden
By Patrick Hayden
December 7, 2020NTD News Today
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The Federal Trade Commission and over 40 states plan to file an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook as soon as this week, according to multiple sources.

Only two months ago, the Department Of Justice filed the most significant monopoly case in twenty years against Google. This Facebook one may be just as significant.

It’s not clear what will be in the lawsuit, but Facebook has previously been accused of stifling competition by buying small potential rivals at a premium.

These include Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

The House released a report on Facebook in October. It found that the company has bought nearly 100 companies—but the FTC only really investigated one acquisition: Facebook’s purchase of Instagram.

The report also said Facebook tried to buy, crush, or clone businesses. This included blocking them from the Facebook platform.

Facebook did not respond for comment. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously argued that the company has a range of competitors.

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