Dozens of states and the federal government sued Facebook (FB) on Wednesday in double antitrust lawsuits, alleging that the social media giant abused its dominance in the digital market and engaged in anti-competitive behavior.
Facebook facebook Instagram instagram and WhatsApp, in particular, are seeking a permanent injunction in the federal court that could, among other things, ask the company to withdraw assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp, effectively breaking Facebook as we know it. Invites states also to the dismantling of the company, if necessary.
"Personal social networking is fundamental to the lives of millions of Americans,"Ian Conner, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of competition, said in a statement. "Facebook's actions to establish and maintain its monopoly deprive consumers of the benefits of competition. Our goal is to roll back Facebook's anticompetitive behavior and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can flourish."
Represent lawsuits parallel, which lasted several months, an unprecedented challenge to one of the most powerful companies in Silicon Valley. Instagram Instagram Facebook Facebook and WhatsApp, two major services in its social media empire, zero complaints in the acquisition of Facebook and control of Instagram and WhatsApp, two major services in its social media empire. Announced Facebook instagram in 2012 that it was buying Instagram for 1 million dollars; two years later, announced the acquisition of 19 billion dollars for WhatsApp.
The lawsuits come almost 14 months after New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office was leading a group of Public Attorneys in investigating Facebook for potential anti-competitive practices. More than 40 prosecutors eventually signed a complaint on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission has been conducting its own antitrust investigation of Facebook since June 2019.
"For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller competitors and eliminate competition,"James said at a press conference on Wednesday. "By using its enormous circles of data and money, Facebook has crushed or obstructed what the company sees as potential threats."
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The state's lawsuit calls for a court order requiring Facebook to notify state officials of any future acquisitions of دولار 10 million or more.
"The most important fact in this case, which the committee did not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it cleared these acquisitions years ago,"Jennifer Newstead, Facebook's vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. "The government now wants to do this, sending a chilling warning to American businesses that there is no final sale at all."
"People and small businesses don't choose to use Facebook's free services and ads because they have to, they use them because our apps and services offer the most value,"Newstead added. "We will vigorously defend the ability of people to continue to take this choice."
Although regulators may not oppose WhatsApp and Instagram deals at the time, competition watchdogs have every right to change their mind in light of new evidence, said William Kovacic, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.
"There's nothing in the U.S. merger law that says the agency's decision not to challenge a proposed deal immunizes that deal from future review,"he said.
Much of Facebook's scrutiny concerns the companies it bought to build a huge audience of now more than 3 billion users across its portfolio of apps, according to its financial statements. This dominance has raised questions by some legal experts, including US lawmakers, about whether Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has set out to neutralize competitive threats by devouring them.
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As it grew the drums in Washington against Facebook louder, they had years to prepare for the confrontation. He was moved to tightly integrate his applications at the technical level, a decision that some critics have suggested is a strategy to thwart any potential break-up. She stepped up her hiring of lawyers with antitrust and litigation experience. The company has fine-tuned its talking points, settling on the narrative that Facebook welcomes regulation, but taking too drastic action could risk giving other countries like China a competitive advantage in the fast-moving technology sector.
Wednesday's legal action makes Facebook the second global technology company to be taken to court by US and state government officials this year over antitrust concerns. In October, the Justice Department and 11 states filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming it stifled competition to maintain its strong position in online search and AD search. (Google described the lawsuit as" deeply flawed " and that consumers use the Google platform because they choose to, not because they are forced to. Another antitrust lawsuit main technical before that, experts say, goes back to the historical issue of the U.S. government against Microsoft in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Facebook and Google are not the only technology companies that matter to policymakers. U.S. officials have increasingly searched the entire technology sector for potential anti-competitive behavior, with a particular focus on the big four companies that now touch every corner of our lives. Scrutiny has ranged from Apple's control of the iOS app ecosystem to Amazon's treatment of independent sellers on its ecommerce platform.
In the case of Facebook, government officials will need to prove in court that the company's alleged misconduct resulted in real, measurable damages to consumers or competition, said Hal Singer, an economist and antitrust expert at the George Washington University Public Policy Institute.
"It doesn't have to be a price effect; it can be something of a privacy thing,"singer said. "But you have to show causation."
According to the state's lawsuit, the alleged misconduct on Facebook led to consumers being harmed. The complaint said internet users had fewer choices between social media platforms and poorer experiences, while the tech industry suffered from "reduced investment in potentially competitive services."
Facebook facebook facebook facebook facebook facebook in another critical claim, state officials said Facebook opened its platform to third-party app developers to lure them into the company's orbit, then cut off their access to Facebook services once Facebook viewed them as a competitive threat.
The singer said that if Facebook is ultimately deemed to have violated the law, the company may try to prevent a breakup by saying that its services are so tightly integrated that they cannot be broken. But he said it was up to the courts to determine whether this was a compelling argument.
As the Microsoft case has shown, antitrust lawsuits can take years to play out. But it can ultimately have a tremendous impact. Experts attribute the Microsoft lawsuit, which was eventually settled, paving the way for Google's rise.
Similarly, a court ruling that breaks Facebook or imposes certain behavioral restrictions could have wide-ranging effects on what new startups might look like-and what consumers see in the market.
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