US: Snap details Facebook’s Aggressive Tactics in “Project Voldemort”

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been holding talks with current and former Facebook competitors as part of an ongoing investigation into the social media’s business practices, sources close to the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

Rival social media company Snap is one of the current competitors in talks with the FTC, WSJ sources said. Snap has been keeping notes on Facebook’s business practices, including discouraging its users from referencing Snap on their Instagram profile through threats of having their verified check mark removed. The project was known as “Project Voldemort.”

Also, Facebook may have been able to collect data on Snap users, like how much time was spent on specific features through a company it acquired called Onavo.

The FTC may have also held talks with failed startups which lost access to Facebook’s platform as well as entrepreneurs who sold their business to Facebook, according to the WSJ.

A Facebook spokeswoman told WSJ its business thrives on taking existing concepts and ideas and “making them better or taking them in different directions.”

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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