The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges that Facebook resorted to an illegal scheme to crush their competition in a release.
Editorial Note: FTC Publications Newswire is not related to the Federal Trade Commission
This release comes when many question if Facebook has an unfair dominance in the social media market. Facebook and Instagram can effectively destroy just about any company at the press of a key. There are few competitors against the giant. Facebook and Instagram have secret algorithms to determine who is verified (The blue badge indicating an account is authentic) and who is not. Verified accounts have an advantage over unverified accounts and are given additional tools and privileges over other users. Giving Facebook & Instagram control over which businesses have more perceived value and are more successful. Facebook and Instagram can also delete an account at any time without any accountability or oversight, destroying a company that relies heavily on the platform.
The complaint alleges that after repeated failed attempts to develop innovative mobile features for its network, Facebook instead resorted to an illegal buy-or-bury scheme to maintain its dominance. It unlawfully acquired innovative competitors with popular mobile features that succeeded where Facebook’s own offerings fell flat or fell apart. And to further moat its monopoly, Facebook lured app developers to the platform, surveilled them for signs of success, and then buried them when they became competitive threats. Lacking serious competition, Facebook has been able to hone a surveillance-based advertising model and impose ever-increasing burdens on its users.
The complaint further states, “After suffering significant failures during this critical transition period, Facebook found that it lacked the business talent and engineering acumen to quickly and successfully integrate its outdated desktop-based technology to the new era of mobile-first communication. Unable to maintain its monopoly or its advertising profits by fairly competing, Facebook’s executives addressed this existential threat by buying up the new mobile innovators, including its rival Instagram in 2012 and mobile messaging app WhatsApp in 2014, who had succeeded where Facebook had failed. The company supplemented its anticompetitive shopping spree with an open-first-close-later scheme that helped cement its monopoly by severely hampering the ability of rivals and would-be rivals to compete on the merits. By anticompetitively cementing its personal social networking monopoly, Facebook has harmed the competitive process and limited consumer choice.”
The Public can read the entire release on the Federal Trade Commission website.
Editorial Note: FTC Publications Newswire is not related to the Federal Trade Commission in any way. The name Publications Newswire was established on September 12, 1988. Ownership disclosure.
