The Federal Trade Commission of USA (FTC by Federal Trade Commission) announced today a treatment against Facebook alleging that the company has created an illegal monopoly based on anti-competitive practices.
According to an announcement by the FTC, the lawsuit includes Instagram services, Messenger and the company's WhatsApp, as well as Facebook's alleged imposition of practices on software developers.
The announcement says the US government is seeking an order to force the company to divest these and potentially other services and to prevent Facebook from acquiring new companies without federal approval. permission.
According to the FTC statement:
After a long research in collaboration with a team attorneys general of 46 states, the District of Columbia and Guam, the complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy — including acquiring upstart rival Instagram in 2012, acquiring mobile messaging app WhatsApp in 2014 and enforcing anti-competitive terms to software developers – to eliminate threats to its monopoly. This behavior harms competition, leaves consumers with few options for personal social networking, and deprives advertisers of the benefits of competition.
The FTC is seeking a permanent injunction from the federal court that could, inter alia:
- Require the sale of assets such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
- Prohibit Facebook from imposing anti-competitive conditions on software developers,
- and require Facebook to request permission for future mergers and acquisitions.
We will need some further analysis to see what effect the FTC decision will have in practice, given that the US is in a state of transition at the moment.
At present no one can predict how the next president will handle the situation. It is worth emphasizing that the case is now in the hands of the court.
