For Immediate Release
November 9, 2020
Contact: Grace Morgan
(202-855-4380)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), a national consumer and taxpayer watchdog, is concerned about a recent report that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is considering antitrust action against Facebook, possibly before the end of November. The report suggests the suit could ultimately force Facebook to unwind its acquisitions of popular services Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC previously approved these acquisitions in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
TPA Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger offered the following statement:
“Underlying the idea that Facebook should be forced to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp is the belief that the FTC got these decisions wrong from a decade ago. That is an absolute ludicrous assertion. Even if the FTC made a mistake nearly ten years ago, there is zero indication that today’s FTC is better suited to predict the future. The fact is that the market has changed drastically over just a handful of years and will continue to do so. Facebook already faces robust challenges across its portfolio of tech sector services from companies most had not even heard of just a year ago, such as Zoom and TikTok.
“Reversing approved mergers and acquisitions not even a decade down the road sends a horrific signal not just to the tech sector, but to the entire economy. We can ill-afford to dissuade investment, mergers, and other consolidations to achieve efficiency at a time when the economy is still hobbled by the COVID-19 crisis. Telling businesses and entrepreneurs that their success will be undone if they are too successful is the exact opposite of the way to promote vibrant competition in any sector. Innovation from the private sector comes from, less, not more government intervention.”
#
Add a Comment