ZUCKERBERG QUESTIONED IN ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION

WASHINGTON: Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg was questioned by officials from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over two days this week as part of an antitrust investigation into the social media company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The FTC’S probe into the company was disclosed last summer. The agency is one of multiple enforcers, including the US justice department, exploring Facebook’s market power and influence.

“We are committed to cooperating with the FTC’S inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have,” a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the FTC declined to comment.

Facebook is under investigation for whether it’s abusing its outsized share of the online advertising market, in addition to whether its acquisitions of Instagram and Whatsapp and its copying of competing apps’ features violate antitrust laws.

At a congressional hearing last month, alongside the CEOS of three other technology giants, Zuckerberg defended those deals and argued that Facebook’s numerous products have a lot of competition. Zuckerberg’s FTC testimony was reported earlier by Politico.