On 12/9/2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that Facebook is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. The complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly. For example, Facebook has been acquiring rivals such as Instagram and the mobile messaging app WhatsApp, as well as imposing anticompetitive conditions on software developers. The FTC states that “this course of conduct harms competition, leaves consumers with few choices for personal social networking, and deprives advertisers of the benefits of competition.”
According to their release, the FTC is seeking a permanent injunction in federal court that could: 1) require divestitures of assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp; 2) prohibit Facebook from imposing anticompetitive conditions on software developers; and 3) require Facebook to seek prior notice and approval for future mergers and acquisitions.
The FTC news release can be found here.
The lawsuit can be found here.
