The Zuckerberg group is supposed to give up WhatsApp and Instagram and abolish its anti-competitive conditions for software developers. With this goal in mind, the American competition authority FTC has filed a lawsuit in a US court. She is supported by attorneys general from more than 40 states. The accusation: Facebook has built a monopoly with illegal means.
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Competitors bought up
It is no coincidence that the social medium has little competition around the world. Critics have said this for a long time. Now a 123-page complaint provides evidence. On the one hand, there was the takeover of competitors WhatsApp and Instagram. Both were aimed at a similar target group, but offered different focuses: WhatsApp as a messenger, Instagram as a photo platform. According to the FTC, the threat was quickly recognized in the management of Facebook. In order not to have to compete with the young, fast-growing companies, they were taken over in 2012 and 2014. Instagram for one, WhatsApp for $ 19 billion.
Supremacy secured
With this approach, Facebook prevented competition. On the one hand for millions of US citizens who do not want to do without the use of social media. But even advertisers can no longer ignore the group. And if a social network were to start up again, it would hardly stand a chance against the huge opponent. The anticompetitive behavior has paid off, say the plaintiffs: Last year, Facebook made around 18.5 billion profits on sales of 70 billion US dollars.
App providers also affected
The lawsuit says that competition is also hindered on one’s own platform. Third-party software providers are only allowed to use the interfaces if they meet strict conditions. Programs that compete with the Facebook offer are not tolerated. Connections to other social media are also undesirable. In 2013, for example, users of the short video service Vine experienced this. They were only able to find their contacts on Facebook via the app for a short time. The connection was then closed.
Conclusion
The plaintiffs apply for a permanent injunction. This is to force Facebook to give up Instagram and WhatsApp. In addition, the group should be prohibited from working with anti-competitive framework conditions for third-party providers. And if Zuckerberg and Co. should think again about buying another company, they have to obtain approval according to the will of the competition authority.
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