The Federal Trade Commission will be in charge of any antitrust investigations into Facebook, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal Monday.
It’s part of an arrangement that permits the Justice Department to investigate Google while handing over Facebook and Amazon to the FTC. On Friday, reports surfaced that the Justice Department was preparing to open an antitrust probe into Google. It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what part of Google’s business that the Department would be investigating, but shortly after the news broke, The Washington Post confirmed that The FTC would be at the reigns of any investigations into Amazon.
Both the FTC and the Justice Department have the authority to enforce antitrust laws, but the agencies work out agreements over which one will investigate specific companies.
The FTC has spent over a year now looking into Facebook’s privacy practices following the company’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, but that specific investigation doesn’t extend into questions on antitrust. Since the FTC is now charged with the authority to investigate Facebook’s market power, it could mean that the agency will pursue an antitrust probe into the company.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
T-Mobile Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Sprint Merger After Appeal Denied
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
Google Faces Backlash Over Introduction of AI-Generated Summaries in Searches
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
CMA Launches Phase 2 Probe into AlphaTheta’s Acquisition of Serato
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
NFL Executive Escapes Testifying in High-Stakes Trial Over Televised Games
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
EU Consumers Lodge Complaint Against Chinese Retailer Temu Over Content Rules Breach
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Mapping Antitrust onto Digital Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystems and Competition Law: A Law and Political Economy Approach
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystem Theories of Harm: What is Beyond the Buzzword?
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Open Ecosystems: Benefits, Challenges, and Implications for Antitrust
May 9, 2024 by
CPI