FTC explores Facebook antitrust injunction
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators probing Facebook for violations of antitrust law have considered seeking a preliminary injunction against the company, aiming to halt the tech giant’s plans to integrate its flagship social-networking app with the other services it owns.
The legal move — described by a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss a lawenforcement proceeding — would mark a major new threat for Facebook as the Federal Trade Commission forges ahead with an inquiry that has explored the competition concerns posed by its prior purchases of Instagram, a photo-sharing app, and WhatsApp, a messaging service.
FTC officials have not decided whether to take that course of action, the source said, which would require the commission to vote and then seek the permission of a court.
The FTC and its Republican chairman, Joe Simons, declined to comment for this report, as did Facebook.
For now, some competition experts said the FTC could be hamstrung if it doesn’t seek to stop Facebook from integrating its services.
Absent that, it could prove difficult to penalize or unwind the company, if the government later finds Facebook violated the law.
“If the FTC thinks it has a plausible basis for challenging Facebook’s previous acquisition of Instagram or WhatsApp, it is critical to seek an injunction to prevent Facebook from mixing all the key assets from these divisions,” said Gene Kimmelman, a senior adviser to the consumer group Public Knowledge and former antitrust official at the Department of Justice.
“Without an injunction,” he said, “winning a case in court might prove fruitless, like trying to unscramble eggs.”