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The FTC and 46 states are suing Facebook for illegal monopolization

Facebook is once again under fire for its continuous unlawful conduct.

Donovan Erskine

December 9, 2020 1:00 PM

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Facebook is often criticized for its more than shady business practices. This has become increasingly common in recent years as the company continues to dominate the social media landscape and consume other companies. Now, Facebook finds itself under fire once again as the FTC, in cooperation with 46 American states, are suing Facebook for its illegal monopolization. 

This news comes directly from the Federal Trade Commission itself, as a press release was posted to the organization’s website on December 9, 2020. In the post, the FTC shares that they are suing Facebook, and then lists its reasoning.

Facebook’s consumption of its biggest competitors is certainly alarming, and it’s hard to argue against the points made by the FTC. As a part of its lawsuit, the FTC is asking for Facebook to divest out of both Instagram and WhatsApp. 

Facebook’s thumbprint is present not only in the world of social media, but technology. We recently spoke to how the company’s ownership of Oculus led to some invasive and anti-consumer practices with the Quest 2 VR headset. For future updates and developments to this story, visit the Facebook topic page on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_