Facebook May Face State, Federal Suits For Buying Rivals, Weaponizing Data

Facebook May Face State, Federal Suits For Buying Rivals, Weapon zing Data

Facebook is likely to face antitrust charges over its acquisition of competitors WhatsApp and Instagram which allegedly helped it become the anti-competitive juggernaut that leaves users with few options. Three persons in the know said that the charges are part of what could be the social networking giant's toughest regulatory challenge in the 17 years of its being.

The state and federal probes will enter their final phase even as investigators review how WhatsApp and Instagram have changed since Facebook acquired them. The sources said that the antitrust authority was considering incorporating in the lawsuits how these acquisitions have left users with fewer privacy options and worse services. WhatsApp users in particular had been promised by Facebook at the time of the acquisition in 2014 that the independence and strong privacy protection features of the messaging app would be preserved. However, the social networking company later went back on its promise and merged user data with other services of its own, once again raising privacy concerns.

The sources also said that the manner in which Facebook handled its vast user data and the policies it had in place governing how and when third-party app developers and other companies accessed it constituted fertile ground for state and federal investigators to accuse it of weapon zing most useful assets to annihilate competitors. While the suit has not been finalized, the inquiry initiated last year by the state attorneys general is likely to translate into a suit in December, the sources said. Nearly 40 states led by both Democratic and Republican enforcers are keen on participating in the case.

Meanwhile, Facebook has refuted all such allegations both in public and in private with company chief executive Mark Zuckerberg stressing in July this year that his company's purchase of Instagram, WhatsApp and other firms did not threaten competition but allowed these services to flourish across the globe. All said, the case may blow up into a major face-off between Facebook and the state and federal governments.