(CNN Business) – Dozens of states and the federal government filed dual antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, on Wednesday, alleging that the social media giant has abused its dominance in the digital market and engaged in anti-competitive behavior.
The Federal Trade Commission, in particular, is seeking a permanent injunction in federal court that could require the company, among other things, to withdraw assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp, effectively dismantling Facebook as we know it.
The agency also wants to ask Facebook for advance notice and consent for future mergers and acquisitions.
“Personal social networks are central to the lives of millions of Americans,” said Ian Conner, director of the competition office at the Federal Trade Commission, in a statement. Competition so that innovation and free competition flourish. “
The parallel lawsuits, which took months to prepare, represent an unprecedented challenge to one of the most powerful companies in Silicon Valley.
The complaints focus on Facebook’s takeover and control of Instagram and WhatsApp, two major services in the social media empire.
Facebook responded on Twitter, saying that “years after the Federal Trade Commission liquidated our acquisitions, the government now wants to cancel the order without regard to the impact of that precedent on the wider business community or the people who choose our products every day.”
The lawsuits come nearly 14 months after New York City Attorney Letitia James announced that her office was leading a group of prosecutors investigating Facebook for possible anti-competitive practices. More than 40 prosecutors eventually signed the complaint on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission has been conducting its own antitrust investigation of Facebook since June 2019.
“For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller competitors and stamp out competition … by using its massive pools of data and money, crushing Facebook or blocking what the company has deemed potential threats,” James said at a news conference on Wednesday.
As the drumbeat grew in Washington against Facebook, the company had years to prepare for the showdown. Its applications have been tightly integrated at the technical level, to thwart any potential disintegration. It promoted its employment of lawyers with experience in antitrust and litigation.
The legal action, taken on Wednesday, makes Facebook the second global technology company that government officials have tried in the United States this year over antitrust concerns. In October, the Department of Justice and 11 states filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that it stifled competition to maintain its strong position in Internet search and search ads.
While Google described the lawsuit as “deeply flawed” and that consumers were using its platform because they chose it, not because they were forced to.
Experts say the last major antitrust technology lawsuit before that dates back to the US government’s landmark case against Microsoft in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Facebook and Google are not the only technology companies that are worrying policymakers. US officials have increasingly investigated the entire technology sector for potential anti-competitive behavior, with a special focus on the Big Four that now touch every corner of our lives.
The scrutiny ranged from Apple’s control of the iOS app system to Amazon’s treatment of independent sellers on its e-commerce platform.
