2 ms·

Almost makes you wonder if there isn't a very strong anti-trust case here.

• ghaff 10y ago
  On what grounds? Simply being a monopoly isn't grounds for anti-trust action. It requires some sort of anti-competitive behavior. Now, one could posit an argument to the effect that monopolies in areas that are highly subject to network effects are inherently anti-competitive. But AFAIK that would be a rather novel argument and it's hard to say what the remedy would even be.
  • gman83 10y ago
    It seems to me they are leveraging their monopoly position in one area to dominate competitors in other areas. IANAL, but isn't that the very reason antitrust exists?
    • ghaff 10y ago
      Anti-trust is tricky and depends on defining the markets, defining what constitutes a monopoly, the barriers to entry, etc. Is Facebook in a different market from Snapchat or are they all part of a general "social media" space?
      • gman83 10y ago
        "news feed social media" vs "pictures social media" vs "augmented reality social media" vs "virtual reality social media". Facebook should want competitors tbh. Even if Peter Thiel manages to convince Trump to tell the Justice Dept. to back off, I doubt the European Commission will agree.