Twin antitrust lawsuits have been filed against Facebook by not just the Federal Trade Commissions, but also several states, including Indiana.
The lawsuits allege the social media conglomerate has abused its dominance in the digital marketplace, essentially engaging in a monopoly.
Ian Conner, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition said in a statement Wednesday that Facebook’s control over two other popular social media apps, Instagram and WhatsApp, is anticompetitive.
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
“Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive.”
Across the three apps, 3 billion users are on the social media platforms. The lawsuits want Facebook to break from Instagram and WhatsApp to “level the playing field” so to speak.
Tony’s not sure if he agrees:
