US states plan to sue Facebook next week, sources say



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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law at a hearing on “Online Platforms and Market Power”, in the building of Rayburn House offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 29, 2020.

Mandel Ngan | Pool via Reuters

A group of US states led by New York is investigating Facebook for possible antitrust violations and plans to file a lawsuit against the social media giant next week, four sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The lawsuit would be the second major lawsuit filed against a Big Tech company this year. The Justice Department sued Alphabet’s Google in October.

More than 40 states plan to sign the lawsuit, a source said, without naming them.

Facebook declined to comment.

The Federal Trade Commission, whose commissioners met on Wednesday, could file a related complaint with an administrative judge or district court.

It is not known what states plan to include in their complaint. An allegation often made against Facebook is that it strategically sought to buy off potential small rivals, often at a high price. These include Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

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