Washington, D.C. – Today, more than 40 states attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and the Federal Trade Commission filed historic antitrust lawsuits alleging that Facebook has illegally maintained its monopoly through acquisitions of its competitors—including Instagram and WhatsApp—among other anticompetitive conduct.
Since June 2019, the House Judiciary Committee has led a bipartisan congressional investigation into the state of competition in digital markets, which included an examination of Facebook’s dominance online. In July, the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee held a hearing with Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, along with the CEOs of other major technology firms as part of the Committee’s investigation. In October, the Committee published a comprehensive Majority staff report, which found that Facebook has abused its monopoly power in the social networking market.
"Rather than competing with Instagram and WhatsApp, it appears Facebook simply bought these firms to expand its dominance," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). "As a result, Facebook has illegally maintained its monopoly, allowing it to engage in other abusive conduct. This should never have happened in the first place, and accountability is long overdue. I applaud New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Federal Trade Commission for their efforts to promote competition by filing today’s complaints."
