The Federal Trade Commission and over 40 state attorneys general came together on Wednesday to sue Facebook for maintaining a social networking monopoly through anti-competitive behavior. The complaint alleged that Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 are part of the social media giant’s ‘systematic strategy’ to ‘eliminate threats to its monopoly.’
Facebook’s Response to the Lawsuit
Responding to the antitrust lawsuit, Facebook said the following in its blog post: “Our acquisitions have been good for competition, good for advertisers and good for people. We look forward to our day in court, when we’re confident the evidence will show that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp belong together, competing on the merits with great products.”
