FTC: is Facebook services being split?

The Federal Trade Commission of (FTC by Federal Trade Commission) today announced a lawsuit 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 the company's Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, as well as Facebook's alleged enforcement of practices against software developers.

The announcement states that the US government is seeking a mandate that will force the company to outsource these and possibly other services and to prevent Facebook from acquiring new companies without a federal license.

According to the FTC statement:

After a long search in με μια ομάδα γενικών εισαγγελέων 46 πολιτειών, της Περιφέρειας της Columbia και του Guam, η καταγγελία ισχυρίζεται ότι το Facebook έχει εμπλακεί σε μια συστηματική στρατηγική – συμπεριλαμβανομένης της απόκτησης του ανερχόμενου αντίπαλου της Instagram το 2012, την απόκτηση της εφαρμογής για μηνύματα WhatsApp το 2014 και την επιβολή αντιανταγωνιστικών όρων στους προγραμματιστές λογισμικού – για την εξάλειψη των απειλών κατά του μονοπωλίου της. Αυτή η συμπεριφορά βλάπτει τον ανταγωνισμό, αφήνει στους καταναλωτές λίγες επιλογές για προσωπική κοινωνική δικτύωση και στερεί από τους 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.

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Written by giorgos

George still wonders what he's doing here ...

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