Facebook May Face Antitrust Suit From At Least 20 States Next Week

A group of US states led by New York is investigating Facebook for possible antitrust violations and plans to file a lawsuit against the social media giant next week, reported Reuters.

The latest point of contention over antitrust issues comes after comments from Joe Simons, chair of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last month. Simons said antitrust enforcers should be on guard against dominant companies buying emerging startups.

“A monopolist can squash a nascent competitor by buying it, not just by targeting it with anti-competitive actions,” Simons said. “It may be easier and more effective to buy the nascent threat, only if to keep it out of the hands of others.”

Bloomberg reported Thursday, December 3, that virtual reality startups are accusing Facebook of muscling out the competition in that up-and-coming technology. Facebook is accused of using its market power to keep out companies that offer competing games and services.

The social media giant is also the world’s biggest virtual reality hardware maker, due to its 2014 acquisition of Oculus for US$2 billion. Its practices are drawing the attention of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Bloomberg reported.

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