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Facebook: US government wants to smash corporation - drastic consequences for Whatsapp and Instagram

2022-01-12T14:59:32.619Z


Facebook: US government wants to smash corporation - drastic consequences for Whatsapp and Instagram Created: 01/12/2022, 3:47 PM Facebook app: The parent company Meta is in trouble with the US authorities. In the worst case, it threatens to be broken up. © dpa The US government is mobilizing against the Facebook parent Meta. Now comes the mammoth trial. In the worst case, the social network th


Facebook: US government wants to smash corporation - drastic consequences for Whatsapp and Instagram

Created: 01/12/2022, 3:47 PM

Facebook app: The parent company Meta is in trouble with the US authorities.

In the worst case, it threatens to be broken up.

© dpa

The US government is mobilizing against the Facebook parent Meta.

Now comes the mammoth trial.

In the worst case, the social network threatens to be broken up.

Washington - In the race for rule in the social networks, Facebook threatens a severe damper.

A court in Washington has now approved the controversial competition lawsuit of the US trade authority after making corrections.

In the worst case, Facebook could now be forced to sell off the billion-dollar purchases from WhatsApp and Instagram.

At the same time, the judge emphasized that it was still completely open who would ultimately prevail in the proceedings.

It should drag on for years.

In the lawsuit, the US trade authority FTC alleges, among other things, that the online network bought the WhatsApp chat service and the photo platform in order to protect its own monopoly in the market.

Therefore, the takeovers would have to be reversed.

Proofing that could be a pretty big task for the FTC, judge James Boasberg restricted on Tuesday.

The judge had sent back the first version of the lawsuit with humiliating words for the FTC lawyers.

Among other things, he criticized that they had not bothered to support the monopoly allegation against Facebook with numbers.

"It is as if the agency wanted the court to simply abandon the general belief that Facebook was a monopoly," he wrote in June.

Facebook: US authorities must comprehensively improve the lawsuit

There is no longer a lack of numbers in the amended complaint.

The FTC notes that from 2016 to 2020 Facebook had an average market share of 80 percent on smartphones and 98 percent on the PC with daily active users.

At no point in time and on any device type did the proportion fall below 70 percent.

Convincing enough for Judge Boasberg: "The FTC did its homework this time," he praised.

However, this time he dismissed allegations that Facebook had prevented the interaction of its services with those of other developers.

The reason: This was not relevant for the period concerned.

Facebook mother is confident

The Facebook group Meta * expressly welcomed in its reaction that the lawsuit had been narrowed down.

"We are convinced that the facts will expose the fundamental weakness of the allegations," said a spokesman.

Facebook's investments in WhatsApp and Instagram were good for competition and users.

Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for around a billion dollars and WhatsApp in 2014 for around 22 billion dollars in the end.

Instagram now has around a billion users, WhatsApp around two billion.

The US competition watchdogs approved the takeover at the time.

Facebook: Process could be groundbreaking

Regardless of the outcome, the case could establish a fixed definition of the market for social networks in the US justice system - and thus create a clearer framework for antitrust proceedings.

So far, Facebook has often countered such allegations that the competition on the Internet is diverse and only a click away.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) now describes platforms as personal social networks on which users maintain contacts with friends and family and share contributions and experiences in a common space.

Based on this definition, the FTC sees Twitter, Youtube and the emerging video platform Tiktok, for example, in other categories - because they are more geared towards the use of content than personal connections.

As a direct competitor of Facebook, among other things, Snapchat is named in the lawsuit.

There are also various services that have since been discontinued, such as Google+, MySpace and Friendster.

(dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-12

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