Attorneys general from 46 states joined the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday in a pair of antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, saying the social media giant used its monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition. The lawsuits call on Facebook to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram, and are demanding limits on future mergers and acquisitions by Facebook. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the states’ lawsuit.
Attorney General Letitia James: “By using its vast troves of data and money, Facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats. They’ve reduced choices for consumers. They stifled innovation. And they degraded privacy protections for millions of Americans.”