Skip to main content

Does Facebook have a monopoly over your data? Network faces antitrust scrutiny

Kaboompics / Pexels

Does Facebook’s dominance put users at risk? A new bipartisan coalition consisting of the attorneys general from eight states and the District of Colombia is now investigating the social media giant for antitrust violations, alleging Facebook “stifled competition” in a way that may have impacted user data and ad prices. New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed the investigation on Friday, September 6.

“Even the largest social media platform in the world must follow the law and respect consumers,” James said in a statement. “I am proud to be leading a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in investigating whether Facebook has stifled competition and put users at risk. We will use every investigative tool at our disposal to determine whether Facebook’s actions may have endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers’ choices, or increased the price of advertising.”

Recommended Videos

According to the Washington Post, Google is expected to face similar investigations. An official announcement hasn’t yet been made, but is expected on Monday, the Post says. According to the report, more than half of the state attorneys general will participate in the investigation of Google, which will likely focus on how it uses personal data and how its algorithm affects search results.

The coalition joins a Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust investigation into the social network, scrutinizing Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC investigation is examining whether Facebook purposely bought out those competing platforms to create a monopoly or otherwise restrict trade.

The new coalition is also scrutinizing Facebook’s lead in the social media industry and other “anticompetitive conduct,” the investigation announcement reads. Along with New York, the coalition includes the attorney generals from Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.

The coalition’s investigation will look into whether Facebook’s actions had an impact on user data, as well as if the network’s dominance raised the prices of social media ads.

Current antitrust laws prohibit “every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade” and “monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy or combination to monopolize.” Facebook leads the list of social media networks with 2.41 billion monthly active users on Facebook itself and 2.7 billion people using at least one Facebook-owned app, which also includes Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more