FTC Antitrust Probe of Facebook Scrutinizes Its Acquisitions
August 01 2019 - 1:56PM
Dow Jones News
By Brent Kendall, John D. McKinnon and Deepa Seetharaman
The Federal Trade Commission's antitrust investigation of
Facebook Inc. is examining the social media giant's acquisitions to
determine if they were part of a campaign to snap up potential
rivals before they could become a threat, according to people
familiar with the matter.
The company's acquisition practices are a central component of
the FTC probe, the people said. Facebook disclosed the FTC's
antitrust investigation in its earnings announcement last week, but
provided few details.
FTC investigators are looking for evidence on whether Facebook
and founder Mark Zuckerberg purchased startup technology firms to
keep them from challenging Facebook's empire, the people said.
The FTC has begun reaching out to people who founded companies
that Facebook purchased, some of the people said.
Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In
its announcement last week, Facebook said that the FTC was
investigating "in the areas of social networking or social media
services, digital advertising, and/or mobile or online
applications."
An FTC spokeswoman declined to comment. The investigation comes
on the heels of a separate case in which the commission fined
Facebook $5 billion for alleged privacy missteps.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 01, 2019 14:41 ET (18:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024