The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Facebook faces antitrust probe by states' AGs
It’s latest move to see if tech giants have acted to reduce competition.
Regulators in eight states and the District of Columbia are moving forward with an antitrust investigation of Facebook, New York’s attorney general said Friday, the latest move by government officials to increase scrutiny of America’s technology giants.
“Even the largest social media platform in the world must follow the law and respect consumers,” Attorney General Letitia James of New York said in a statement. Joining James in the effort are the attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina,
Ohio, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
“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,” James said.
An announcement that state officials would open an antitrust investigation into Facebook and other big tech companies had been expected, but its timing was unclear.
In a statement, Will Castleberry, Facebook’s vice president of state and local policy, said that the company “will work constructively with state attorneys general, and we welcome a conversation with policymakers about the competitive environment in which we operate.”
The states’ move follows similar steps by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to examine how Silicon Valley’s dominant players have accumulated market power and whether they have acted to reduce competition.
Congress is exploring the same questions, with executives from Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google — the four companies that are the focus of the Justice Department’s review — appearing at an antitrust hearing in Washington in July. Another hearing is planned for next week.