Opinion: Facebook’s great unwinding may have just begun

More than three billion people use one of Facebook’s platforms on a monthly basis. — AP

Regulators just opened a new front in their battle to contain Big Tech’s power and influence, with dual lawsuits from the US Federal Trade Commission and a group of US state attorneys general accusing Facebook Inc of violating antitrust laws and seeking remedies that may lead to a breakup of the social media giant. It’s a worthy effort.

The suits allege that Facebook’s "buy or bury” strategy, specifically its purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp, squashed emerging competitive threats, thereby unfairly maintaining the company’s monopoly over social networking. The FTC wants court action to require that Facebook unwind those two takeovers; provide advance notice and seek approval for future mergers; and prohibit the company from leveraging its current social media market dominance to stifle future competition. Facebook, in an emailed statement, responded that "antitrust laws exist to protect consumers and promote innovation, not to punish successful businesses,” adding the FTC had cleared its prior acquisitions.