Facebook has 85% of personal social networking market and must be broken up, FTC says …

Facebook controls 85% of the personal social networking market thanks to its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, making it an unlawful monopoly that has hurt consumers and competitors, the Federal Trade Commission argued in court documents released Wednesday.The commission’s analysis of Facebook’s user metrics is critical to its case for breaking up Facebook.A federal judge rejected the commission’s first antitrust lawsuit against Facebook earlier this year, saying that the FTC hadn’t made a persuasive case regarding the company’s dominant market share and unfair monopolistic behavior.The tech giant’s anti-competitive behavior has hurt the social media market by significantly reducing innovation, quality improvements, and consumer choice in regards to advertising and privacy options, the trade commission said in a newly released version of its antitrust complaint against the company.”Facebook has hindered, suppressed, and deterred the emergence and growth of rival personal social networking providers and unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the U.S. personal social networking market through means other than competition on the merits,” the trade commission said in its court filing.FOUR HIDDEN WAYS BIG TECH PLATFORMS SUCK UP YOUR DATAFacebook maintained control of 85% of the personal social networking services market from 2012 to 2020, based on the FTC’s analysis of…
Read More