By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 12-9-20
Most of the nation’s state attorneys general, joined by the Federal Trade Commission, have filed a lawsuit charging that Facebook is an unlawful monopoly guilty of anticompetitive conduct.
The suit alleges the social media giant “thwarted competition and reduced consumer privacy for profit” over a decade.
The move comes only days after the Justice Department sued the company alleging worker discrimination.
Over that time, says the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, the lead AG on the suit, “the social networking giant illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner and cut services to smaller threats — depriving users from the benefits of competition and reducing privacy protections and services along the way — all in an effort to boost its bottom line through increased advertising revenue.”
In total 48 states/commonwealths/territories/districts joined the suit, with Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and South Dakota the only no-shows among the states.
The FTC alleges that Facebook’s purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram were examples of buying an emerging threat rather than competing. » Read More