WaPo: Inside Facebook’s Campaign to Battle Antitrust Lawsuits

In a recent article, the Washington Post has provided an insight into Facebook’s secretive campaign to battle recent antitrust lawsuits.

In a recent article titled “U.S. vs. Facebook: Inside the tech giant’s behind-the-scenes campaign to battle back antitrust lawsuits,” the Washington Post outlines tech giant Facebook’s attempts to fight back against recent antitrust lawsuits.

Breitbart News recently reported that antitrust lawsuits have been filed against Facebook by the federal government and 48 attorneys general. In the complaint, the 46 state officials and attorneys general from Guam and the District of Columbia write: “For almost a decade, Facebook has had monopoly power in the personal social networking market in the United States.” A similar claim was made in a filing by the FTC, which stated that Facebook “has maintained its monopoly position by buying up companies that present competitive threats and by imposing restrictive policies that unjustifiably hinder actual or potential rivals that Facebook does not or cannot acquire.”

The Washington Post has now outlined how Facebook has denied any wrongdoing and the tactics it’s expected to employ in upcoming legal battles. The Post writes:

Facebook had long disputed the claims. In an attempt to illustrate its commitment to competition, the company’s top lawyers signaled that they would be open to changing some of its business practices, according to three people familiar with the matter. One of the ideas Facebook floated would have allowed another firm or developer to license access to its powerful code — and its users’ intricate web of relationships — so that they could more easily create their own version of a social network, said the individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a nonpublic law-enforcement inquiry.

But the investigators ultimately rejected the idea, believing Facebook’s proposal — part of a vague early menu of remedies the tech giant presented this year — failed to fully address their competition concerns. In the end, the Federal Trade Commission and nearly every state’s attorney general, led by New York’s Letitia James, filed twin lawsuits this month that seek to break Facebook apart.

Facebook’s tense last-minute negotiations in the final days of the state and federal probes illustrate the urgency with which the company has sought to rebuff the government’s charges — and foreshadow the aggressive tactics it is expected to deploy in the fight to come. Over the more than 18-month inquiry, Facebook ramped up its lobbying, hired high-powered former government antitrust lawyers and launched a slew of internal initiatives focused on competition issues, according to a dozen individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a matter in active litigation.

Read more at the Washington Post here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com