“The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final.”. Facebook already faces a separate antitrust investigation launched by the Federal Trade Commission in July. The attorneys general of 46 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Guam, were named in the suit, while Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and South Dakota did not participate. GOOGL, PHILADELPHIA, April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The representatives for a proposed class of professional mixed martial arts fighters in an antitrust lawsuit against the … “Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition,” said Ian Conner, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. Opinion: Can Pope Francis Head Off a Schism? I applaud the FTC and state attorneys general who are leading this effort today. The FTC and 48 states territories filed separate lawsuits in federal court Wednesday in D.C., with the FTC’s suit seeking an injunction that could require Facebook … Facebook is asking a federal judge to dismiss landmark antitrust suits against the company, arguing that its "innovative free products deliver … The states filed a separate and similar lawsuit, alleging a lack of competition has harmed consumers, including by weakening privacy protections. “For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” James said during a 20-minute press conference Wednesday announcing the charges. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/facebook-antitrust-lawsuit Stocks are at all-time highs and the U.S. economy is booming. The lawsuits come weeks after the Justice Department brought a case alleging Google was illegally maintaining a monopoly in its search business. The US Federal Trade Commission has hit back at Facebook's claims that there is no merit to an antitrust suit, saying that there is an addressable … Facebook has mounted a two-pronged strategy in fending off antitrust charges. A consortium of 48 attorneys general and the U.S. government filed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook Inc. on Wednesday, claiming it committed unlawful, anticompetitive acts … Late last year the judge overseeing the antitrust lawsuit against the UFC indicated he likely is going to grant class certification. In December, the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 to sue Facebook for illegally maintaining a monopoly in social networking. “Reading the complaint, it’s hard to avoid the sense that the FTC is fighting a few wars back,” Yelderman said. The suit could force Facebook to divest some of those business, and to inform state AGs of significant merger and acquisition activity of more than $10 million. So why is everyone so freaked out. “Personal social networking is central to the lives of millions of Americans,” Ian Conner, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. Jon has covered technology for more than 20 years, and previously worked for Barron's and USA Today. The FTC set its sights on Facebook after concluding an investigation into the company’s entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, the notorious political consulting firm, that forced the tech giant to pay a $5 billion penalty. has gained 14.6%. Facebook Officials Dispute Multistate Antitrust Lawsuit . Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive.”, Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., chairman of a House subcommittee on antitrust matters, promptly praised the lawsuits. (Facebook is expected to report $84.1 billion in fiscal 2020 revenue, based on projections by FactSet.). “Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive.”, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, asserted that Facebook “has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” and made “billions by converting personal data into a cash cow.”, Start today & save up to $15 with TurboTax 2021, H&R Block discount 2021 - 35% off new tax prep software, Receive 20% discount on your order - Target Promo Code 2021, Microsoft Coupon - 10% off for all Military personnel, New Investors Discover Tax Pitfalls of Robinhood and Other Trading Apps, Indianapolis Mass Shooting: At Least Eight Dead at FedEx Facility, West Point to End Leniency After Cheating Scandal, Apple Reveals How Much It Pays When You Stream a Song, J&J Privately Asked Rival Vaccine Makers to Probe Clot Risks, Opinion: How a Physicist Became a Climate Truth Teller, Opinion: The Great Student-Loan Income Transfer, Opinion: Media’s Racial Narrative Targets Whites, Harms Blacks. “But we must have remedies that allow different business models and more diverse innovation to thrive. “Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. +0.36% The FTC’s sweeping antitrust case seeks to force Facebook to unwind its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, two of its landmark deals. The double-whammy legal action against Facebook is the second government legal action against one of tech’s biggest names. They further allege that many other victims exist and that the lawsuit should include everybody. Jon Swartz is a senior reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco, covering many of the biggest players in tech, including Netflix, Facebook and Google. The last major antitrust lawsuit that led to divestitures was against AT&T in 1984, said William Kovacic, a former Republican chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Since Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, both have played crucial roles in the unbridled growth of Facebook. FB, Indeed, it will be difficulty for the government to explain how actions that Facebook took six to eight years ago are continuing to harm competition today, says Notre Dame Law School Professor Stephen Yelderman, a former trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Facebook has coupled its acquisition strategy with exclusionary tactics that snuffed out competitive threats and sent the message to technology firms that, in the words of one participant, if you stepped into Facebook’s turf or resisted pressure to sell, Zuckerberg would go into “destroy mode” subjecting your business to the “wrath of Mark.” acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp, and their role in turbocharging Facebook’s market dominance. Facebook has finally responded to a December antitrust suit by the Federal Trade Commission (and nearly four dozen states) – asking a federal judge to dismiss it. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a more digital world, giving new life to Apple Inc.'s sleepier product categories and positioning the company to capitalize on improving spending if the economy rebounds in the next year. … “Given the increasing size of many firms in the market, that could have broader effects.”. WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission is moving closer to a decision about filing an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook for its market power in … The states’ suit, spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James, focuses on Facebook’s The agency wants to break up the social network, a contrast to the DOJ’s more measured strike against Google. “It must be broken up. Government’s antitrust case against Facebook seeks a villain in Mark Zuckerberg. Amazon.com Inc. Shares of Facebook closed down about 2%. Follow him on Twitter @jswartz. -0.25% Google for the market power wielded by its search-engine business; 11 states signed on to that suit. “It is now widely known that Facebook is an unethical and out-of-control corporation,” says Jennifer Grygiel, a communications professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. A consortium of 48 attorneys general and the U.S. government filed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook Inc. on Wednesday, claiming it committed unlawful, anticompetitive acts that put rivals out of business and cemented its status as the pre-eminent social-networking giant. The Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of most states are coming out swinging against Facebook's attempt to cut down their respective antitrust suits … Internal company emails show why. GOOG, “Facebook has broken the law,” he said in a statement. This marks a major step in our ongoing work to bring the tech industry’s monopoly moment to an end.”, “This is revisionist history,” Facebook General Counsel Jennifer Newstead said in a sharply worded rebuke. The stock is up more than 34% in 2020, as the S&P 500 This is the class. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. In October, the Justice Department sued Alphabet Inc.’s That is expected to hurt companies that make money by tracking users across the web, most notably Facebook, which has reportedly considered filing an antitrust lawsuit … The case for antitrust enforcement against Facebook “has never been weaker,” NetChoice vice president Carl Szabo said in a statement, pointing to newer social services such as TikTok and Snapchat as rivals that could “overtake” older platforms. Facebook claimed the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit was unprecedented in the 130-year history of the Sherman Act because it does not “credibly claim … are also under regulatory scrutiny, and could face actions next year, say antitrust experts. A lawsuit, filed by 48 attorneys general, claims that the company has a monopoly over social … WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission and 46 states sued Facebook Inc. on Wednesday, accusing the social-media giant of buying and freezing out small startups to choke competition. The lawsuit, which was accompanied by … The FTC’s Antitrust Case Against Facebook Stakes Out New Ground. We hope this lawsuit kick-starts this process.”. The states are coordinating their lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission, which filed separately on Wednesday, accusing Facebook of “illegal monopolization” and specifically calling for the “unwinding” of its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. When a proposed class action lawsuit is launched one or several plaintiffs allege wrongdoing. Apple vs. Facebook: Why iOS 14.5 Started a Big Tech Fight, Video: Body-Cam Footage Shows Adam Toledo Shot by Chicago Police, K-Pop Reinvents Virtual Concerts During Covid-19, Daunte Wright Killing: Clashes Continue After Kim Potter Arrested, Ramadan: Immunized Tourists Welcomed Back to Mecca. WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission and 46 states sued Facebook Inc. on Wednesday, accusing the social-media giant of buying and freezing out small startups to choke competition. AMZN, The Smoking Gun in the Facebook Antitrust Case The government wants to break up the world’s biggest social network. The Federal Trade Commission today sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. +0.05% By . “Facebook’s move to unify the technical infrastructure for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram could make a breakup harder,” says Sumit Sharma, senior researcher for tech competition at Consumer Reports. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/11/tech/facebook-antitrust-lawsuit-what-to-know SPX, Copyright © 2021 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. AAPL, “Antitrust laws exist to protect consumers and promote innovation, not to punish successful businesses. Collectively, the cases reflect U.S. concern about the power of dominant online platforms. “This is evident given that there is almost unanimous consent amongst state attorneys general.”, The sweep of the state and federal suits marks the “single biggest antitrust development in 40 years,” Will Rinehart, senior research fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University, told MarketWatch. Instagram is expected to rake in $22.46 billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2021 — more than half of Facebook’s total U.S. haul, according to eMarketer. -0.53% +0.60% It has plowed resources into a lobbying effort while Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg argues the purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp helped make it competitive in a market where upstarts such as TikTok flourish. “If you look at the general disregard for social media — namely, Cambridge Analytica — it has centered on Facebook.”, The dual cases are equally significant in “whether the courts are still willing to take seriously divestiture as a remedy,” Mark R. Patterson, a professor at Fordham Law School, told MarketWatch. Instagram and WhatsApp became the incredible products they are today because Facebook invested billions of dollars, and years of innovation and expertise, to develop new features and better experiences for the millions who enjoy those products.”, “The most important fact in this case, which the Commission does not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it cleared these acquisitions years ago,” Newstead continued. Public-relations fallout from state and federal suits and the threat of others — compounded with bipartisan criticism of how Facebook handles content on its platform — is likely to further tarnish the company’s brand name, legal and marketing experts have told MarketWatch. accusing Facebook of “illegal monopolization” and specifically calling for the “unwinding” of its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, Apple found fans beyond the iPhone as pandemic gave life to Mac and iPad, Elon Musk's SpaceX wins $2.9 billion NASA moon landing contract, Your streaming subscriptions reshaped Disney and turbocharged Netflix — now comes making more money off you, My wife makes $200K a year, but gives us $700 a month, and $3,000 to her brother and mother ‘to keep them in the good life’, This dogecoin chart offers the clearest explanation for the buzz surrounding the ‘joke’ crypto, It’s time to expand Social Security benefits — and here’s how to pay for it, Why Mike Novogratz sees bitcoin reaching $500,000 by 2024. 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