Facebook is repeatedly criticized.
Now the online giant has to defend itself in court in the USA.
The globally successful
Instagram
and
WhatApp applications also
belong to
Facebook
.
Mark Zuckerberg's
group is to cede the services acquired a few years ago.
This is what the
US government
demands
in an indictment.
But Facebook will fight back.
Washington -
is supposed to sell Instagram * and WhatsApp *.
The US government and 40 states want to achieve this in court.
The plaintiffs accuse founder
Mark Zuckerberg's
social network of
unfair competition.
A quick agreement is not in sight.
Facebook is getting ready for years of trial.
saw
potential in
*
as early as 2012
and bought it for around a billion dollars.
The same was true for
.
Zuckerberg acquired the messenger service in 2014 for $ 22 billion.
With the increasing number of users, the value and also the influence of the portals has increased significantly.
Both services now each have well over
a billion users
.
Will the state break up?
Facebook is supposed to sell WhatsApp and Instagram
The
FTC trade commission
, which
is responsible
for consumer protection
in the
US
, started its lawsuit by stating that Facebook was the
dominant online network
and had
monopoly power
.
The group defends this lucrative monopoly in a "systematic strategy" with anti-competitive means.
Facebook's
chief lawyer Jennifer Newstead held against it: "Antitrust laws exist to protect consumers and promote innovation, not to punish successful companies." Facebook has
invested billions of dollars
to make Instagram and
so successful.
The defense attorney also pointed out that the supervisory authority itself had once approved the takeovers.
The lawsuit now sends out the signal "that no purchase is ever final".
Again and again there had been demands in the past,
Instagram *
and
to detach
from Facebook again.
In recent years, the group has built the infrastructure behind the platform of its online network as well as Instagram and
WhatsApp *
brought closer together.
That would make a split technically more difficult.
Facebook in court over monopoly allegations
It is controversial whether breaking up the group makes sense at all.
Analyst Jessica Liu from the market research company Forrester assumes that even Facebook could not do much.
With more than 1.8 billion users daily in its online network alone, the group has an "insurmountable" strength.
Along with Instagram, WhatsApp and the second instant messaging service Messenger comes
to
2.54 billion users every day
.
The attorneys at law of 48 US states and territories also demand in their lawsuit that
should inform
them of all acquisitions valued at more than
ten million dollars
.
"Facebook has used its monopoly power to destroy smaller rivals and wipe out the competition,
all at the expense of everyday users,
" criticized
New York Attorney General Letitia James
.
The lawsuit should send a clear message to Facebook and other companies: that attempts to stifle competition, hinder innovation or curtail privacy protection would be pursued with vigor.
Online giants were
barely regulated
in the
US
for a long time.
In the end, however, the mood changed.
In October, the government and eleven states targeted Internet giant Google with a competition lawsuit.
The allegation is that
protects its dominance in Internet search and the associated advertising in an illegal manner.
The company rejected this.
Legal experts doubt the lawsuit will succeed.
Among other things, it must be proven that US consumers are
harmed
by anti-competitive behavior by
.
Facebook in court: Zuckerberg is preparing for years of trial
The
FTC and the states must
also
prove this
in their lawsuits against
.
They point out that consumers missed out on possible innovations from an independent Instagram service, for example, as well as the possibility of using an online network not controlled by Facebook.
Facebook argued exactly as
has already done: You have to take into account the fierce competition for the attention of users on the Internet.
The
Snapchat
network is also a much sought-after competitor
.
Zuckerberg
had already tried to buy it.
However, the founder turned down the offer.
Zuckerberg
was
combative
in an internal message to the staff that was available to the
New York Times
.
"Overall, we disagree with the government's allegations and plan to fight them in court.
The reality is that we compete fairly with many other services in everything we do, ”the 36-year-old wrote.
Facebook's competitors have hundreds of millions or billions of users, said Zuckerberg and listed Google, Twitter, Snapchat, Apple's chat service iMessage and Google's video platform YouTube.
For employees and their teams, the lawsuit should not change anything,
Zuckerberg
assured
in his employee letter.
At the same time, it could take years before the process was finally concluded.
"In the meantime, you should only communicate with our legal team on these cases and related matters," he cautioned staff.
(lb with dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network
List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / Peter Dasilva