United States Federal Trade Commission has filed antitrust suit against Facebook Inc., alleging that Facebook had been engaging in anti-competitive practices, mostly by acquiring companies and businesses seen as possible competitors. If successful, the suit would ultimately result in Facebook having to part ways with two of its biggest acquisitions - WhatsApp messaging service and Instagram photo sharing network.
This news comes after Facebook rebranding its planned digital currency from Libra to Diem. The project, which was originally joined by may other entities and was supposed to revolutionise world economy, is now reduced to stablecoin pegged to US dollar. This change happened after increased criticism among the public and, more importantly, representatives of US political establishment, which had been bringing Facebook founder and leader Mark Zuckerberg to increasinfly unpleasant public hearings.
Facebook stands out among US Big Tech companies for being the target of increased hostility by US politicians, and that hostility is, unlike many other cases, bipartisan and not linked to any particular party, ideology or agenda. Truth to be told, a lot of hostility was created following 2016 US presidential elections when Facebook selling users' data to Cambridge Analytica served as the more belieavable explanation for Trump's victory than stories about Russian hacking. On the other hand, Zuckerberg didn't help his cause by trips to Iowa, state deemed crucial for presidential primaries, and thus fueling rumours about his own 2020 presidential bids.
Idea of Zuckerberg using its wealth and influence to win US presidency and thus replace one arrogant business tycoon in White House with another was apparently too much for US politicians. The hearings, anti-Facebook campaign in media and the latest anti-trust suit could, therefore, be interpreted as an US political establishment's attempt to put Zuckerberg into his proper place.