After release of an exhibition by the subcommittee on antitrust, the committee's chairman, Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, said Wednesday that he thinks it would be a very good idea to separate Instagram from Facebook, in accordance with Reuters
Cicilline reported in Reuters in an interview yesterday that "Facebook should not have been allowed to buy Instagram".
"I would be comfortable with the separation. I think that's the right answer," Cicilline told Reuters, referring to Facebook's purchase of Instagram for 737 millions dollars in 2012.
At report issued Tuesday, Cicilline and staff said Instagram's purchase helped stave off competition from Facebook in the social media market. Facebook has become so dominant that the only real competition is between Facebook and its companies, such as Instagram, the commission said.
“Facebook has monopolized the market so that Facebook competes more strongly among its products – Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger – rather than actual competitors,” the report's authors say.
Of course Facebook is already taking care to make the separation very difficult, or even meaningless, since most recently joined Messenger of the social network with Instagram.
Apple, meanwhile, has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating "Similar, baseless allegations concerning the company have been made more than once.
