Protecting competition

Outcome of Facebook suits will have a wide impact

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 46 states have simultaneously filed antitrust suits against social media giant, Facebook. The two suits are likely to be clubbed. This follows a similar antitrust suit filed in October against Google on similar grounds of abusing market dominance to stifle competition. The FTC says: “Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anti-competitive conduct and restore competition, so that innovation and free competition can thrive.” The FTC brief refers to a series of acquisitions of rivals by Facebook, most notably