The Federal Trade Commission is considering asking for a Facebook order to unite Wattsap, Messenger and Instagram, according to the Wall Street Journal • Facebook value cut by billions

• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies to Washington Financial Services Committee // Photo: Reuters

The Federal Trade Commission is considering severe measures against Facebook in the form of a restraining order against the company, due to concerns that Facebook's consolidation policy between Wattsap, Messenger and Instagram is in violation of antitrust laws, the Wall Street Journal reports this evening. Facebook shares plunged four percent before trading closed following the news, and billions were cut from its value.

If the process continues, the Commerce Commission will ask a federal court to prohibit Facebook from implementing policies related to the nature of its activity against competing apps. The Commission also wants to stop Facebook from uniting its platforms, a move it promotes. The application for an injunction may come out next month.

Facebook has long announced that it plans to consolidate among its platforms, in particular the instant messaging platforms - Facebook Messenger (Social Network), WatSap, and the Instagram direct message component, so users can all interact. Some argue that the move is designed to make it more difficult for a U.S. regulator to dismantle the company into its units if such a move is decided.

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For its part, Facebook has already begun during the unification of the platforms, firstly by branding that Wattsap, Instagram and Messenger are all "by Facebook", which is indicated by the icons and opening screens of the platforms used by billions of people every day around the world.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the Justice Department and the House Constitutional Committee launched an investigation several months ago against Google technology giants (via Alphabetic parent company), Amazon, Facebook and Apple for violating competition and antitrust violations. The Federal Trade Commission itself, as well as a host of state prosecutors, are also reviewing Google's and Facebook's moves.

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