New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the charge for a landmark antitrust lawsuit that includes 48 states suing Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook. The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Federal Trade Commission, who fined Facebook a few billion dollars for violating privacy laws back in 2019.
The suit alleges that the social media platform has been using tactics to eliminate competition through aggressive takeovers and implementing barriers to entry for a greater share in the social media market.
James claims that Facebook “used its monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” and that it is “critically important that we block this predatory acquisition of companies.”
Facebook has taken over 70 companies since its inception. The social media platform acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion on February 19, 2014 and Instagram for a reported $1 billion on April 9, 2012. Now, Facebook is being sued for making smart business acquisitions — while lacking the acknowledgement that no one forced the smaller tech companies to sell out — but more than likely, the former owners gladly took the big payouts.
However, the suit claims that the acquisitions were strategically manipulated as third-party developers would be welcomed to the platform, exposing inside data and information to Facebook, only for partnerships to be abruptly terminated once it became apparent that the third-party developer was competition.
If anything, the platform should be sued for manipulating user profiles with shadow-banning and limitations on reach and engagement to influence users to purchase promotions.
Facebook responded to the lawsuits, “The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final.”
With other big tech companies, such as Amazon and Google, also facing antitrust probes, it begs the question on whether the U.S. government is actually fighting for fair competition in a rapidly growing market or if Uncle Sam just wants greater control and say so over someone else’s genius.
