WASHINGTON, D.C. – Arizona has joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission in filing an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. The group alleges that the company has and continues to stifle competition to protect its monopoly power illegally.
Allegedly the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. Following a lengthy investigation in cooperation with the coalition of attorneys general, the complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly.
The group argues that Facebook’s conduct harms competition, leaves consumers with few choices for personal social networking, and deprives advertisers of the benefits of competition.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Facebook’s unlawful monopoly gives it broad discretion to set the terms for how its users’ private information is collected and used to further its business interests. When Facebook cuts off integration to third-party developers, users cannot easily move their own information — such as their lists of friends — to other social networking services. This decision forces users to either stay put or start their online lives from scratch if they want to try an alternative.
The volume, velocity, and variety of Facebook’s user data give it an unprecedented, virtually 360-degree view of users and their contacts, interests, preferences, and activities. The more users Facebook can acquire and convince to spend additional time on its platforms, the more data Facebook can accumulate by surveilling the activities of its users and thereby increase its monopolistic revenues through advertising, claims the AGO.
Because Facebook users have nowhere else to go, the company is able to make decisions about how to curate content on the platform and use the personal information it collects from users to further its business interests, even if those choices conflict with the interests and preferences of Facebook users.
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