Federal government and 46 states file antitrust suit seeking to split up Facebook

Those acquisitions let Facebook solidify its social media dominance while depriving users of privacy-focused alternatives, prosecutors allege."After identifying two significant competitive threats to its dominant position — Instagram and WhatsApp — Facebook moved to squelch those threats by buying the companies, reflecting CEO Mark Zuckerberg's view, expressed in a 2008 email, that 'it is better to buy than compete,'" the FTC said in its suit. Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump have also sought to roll back a 25-year-old law that protects internet companies from liability for users' posts.Although it remains to be seen if the Biden administration is equally determined to wage what is sure to be a long legal campaign against Facebook, a sense that the social media company is too powerful has united some lawmakers and policymakers across the aisle.Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but noted on Twitter that the FTC previously cleared the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions."Years after the FTC cleared our acquisitions, the government now wants a do-over with no regard for the impact that precedent would have on the broader business community or the people who choose our products every day," Facebook tweeted.The world's dominant social network, Facebook counts 2.7 billion users and leverages access to their attention for its immensely profitable advertising business.