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Washington:
A gaggle of US states led by New York is investigating Facebook Inc for potential antitrust violations and plans to file a lawsuit in opposition to the social media large subsequent week, 4 sources accustomed to the matter stated on Wednesday.
The grievance could be the second main lawsuit filed in opposition to a Big Tech firm this yr. The Justice Department sued Alphabet Inc’s Google in October.
More than 40 states plan to signal on to the lawsuit, one supply stated, with out naming them.
Facebook declined to remark. A spokesman for the New York legal professional basic’s workplace declined to remark.
The Federal Trade Commission, whose commissioners met on Wednesday, may file a associated grievance with an administrative regulation decide or in district courtroom.
It will not be recognized what the states plan to incorporate of their grievance. One allegation usually made in opposition to Facebook is that it has strategically sought to purchase small potential rivals, usually at a giant premium. These embody Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has argued in congressional testimony that the corporate has a variety of rivals, together with different tech giants. He has defended controversial acquisitions like Instagram and WhatsApp by saying the social media platform helped them broaden from small, insignificant firms into powerhouses.
The Justice Department and FTC in 2019 started antitrust investigations into the 4 huge tech firms, which additionally embody Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc. Shortly after that, attorneys generals shortly joined collectively to probe Google and Facebook.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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