Facebook May Face Federal, State Antitrust Charges as Soon as November:
State and federal investigators are planning to slap Facebook with antitrust charges as soon as November, four people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. Such a lawsuit would mark the government's latest crackdown on the biggest names in the tech industry, including Apple, Google, and Amazon, for holding monopolies on their respective markets.
[...] Sources said that state officials are "in the late stages of preparing their complaint" per the Post. A fifth person familiar with the matter told the outlet that investigators expect to have "an initial roster of participants" by Friday.
[...] Unrelated to these antitrust charges, Facebook is also facing increased government scrutiny over its moderation practices in the wake of rampant misinformation about the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election on its platform. The Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas this week for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with another social media big wig, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, to testify about the platforms' moderation policies as well as their alleged anti-conservative bias and censorship.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday October 26 2020, @07:39AM (16 children)
Why does the Trump administration's justice department care so much about this, on such an accelerated time frame? My first guess is that it's a power thing, but ... ?
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @07:54AM (8 children)
When companies get lots of power, they can set prices. This is both for what they buy (including labor) and for what they sell.
When companies get lots of power, they can dictate to congress. They can demand a bailout and get it, because there is a legitimate threat of a crashing economy. They can have enough influence to choose who gets to hold office.
Right now that power is being used to suppress several news stories about Biden family corruption. (at least 4 other countries, at least 4 very distinct sources, several witnesses, etc.) This is election interference for purely partisan reasons.
A huge trouble with anti-trust legislation is that we always act too late, if at all. Companies gaining power are often popular with the people or with a political party, and of course they use that power to discourage effective action. This is how the numerous phone companies merged down to just a few, how the numerous banks did the same, and so on.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:19AM (2 children)
Facebook's abuse of their monopoly has allowed them to raise prices all the way to "free"! When will this madness cease.
It's too bad Facebook is the only place a software developer or web designer can get a job.
If Facebook went bankrupt, the whole economy would... probably become more productive, as employees wasted less time at work.
We definitely need to break this destructive monopoly immediately!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @09:12PM (1 child)
You pay with your privacy, with your personal info being sold. You pay with your time wasted on ads.
The monopoly control means take-it-or-leave-it. You can't negotiate with Facebook. If you want to share pictures with all your relatives on Facebook, you have to be on Facebook. If you want to keep up with the local hobby group on Facebook, you have to be on Facebook.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @09:55PM
If anything, *this* comment needs a "+5 Insightful"
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:39AM (4 children)
Free for all consumers. Beat that.
Stories? More like propaganda.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Monday October 26 2020, @09:30AM (1 child)
Remember Glen Greenwald -- all the great reporting of his during the OBama and GWB years? He thinks it's a story. Also Matt Taibbi.
But whatever, we have so much to look forward to under a Biden ^w Harris administration -- death squads and kangaroo courts keeping people in prison beyond their term or the lethal injection of innocent people by hiding the evidence. I so look forward to the newly defined and refined "liberal" order where all our friends in Big Tech will have our backs and the government will be morally pure.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday October 26 2020, @08:56PM
Couldn't find an actual picture, but I just got a mental image of Judge Dredd (or another "Judge") as a kangaroo.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @11:30AM
Your stories, my propaganda.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @01:50PM
With Hunter's crackhead photo album, several live witnesses testifying, including business partners who kept their emails, this story is more sourced than the President supposedly getting pissed on in Russia, or supposedly only paying $750 in taxes, both of those stories getting free and wide distribution on Facebook and the NYT.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NotTheDr01ds on Monday October 26 2020, @02:00PM (2 children)
Why does this have to be partisan? If you watched the Senate Judiciary hearings with these tech companies, the Democrats were focused on the alleged monopoly abuses, while the Republicans were primarily focused on the alleged anti-conservative moderation.
And now the Trump administration is proceeding with charges against several of these companies on the anti-trust/monopoly issues (not the "censorship" issue, at least not through this venue). That to me means that both the Democrats and Republicans recognize that the anti-trust issues are real and problematic.
We're so jaded on both sides of the aisle that too many people immediately distrust *any* action by the Trump executive branch, even when it was pushed for by the Left. This particular action looks bipartisan to me.
Also a slight correction to the submitted summary - It's not inherently a problem (or illegal) for a company to hold a monopoly. It's only illegal when they take advantage of their monopoly to do something illegal like "tying" services together so that they use their leadership position in one segment to obtain leadership in another.
(Score: 2) by fadrian on Monday October 26 2020, @04:42PM (1 child)
Agreed. A blind squirrel (of either political persuasion) can find a nut occasionally.
That is all.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday October 26 2020, @08:07PM
That particular example has to do with other factors [discoverwildlife.com], it seems. Good point, though.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Monday October 26 2020, @03:53PM (2 children)
I think there is a legitimate case here for some anti-trust investigations, at a minimum, for these large tech companies.
Unfortunately, this so clearly a fake ass hatchet job by butt-hurt Trump that it has completely tainted any such investigation at this point.
That's the biggest shame in all this nonsense.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:55PM (1 child)
You're always claiming there is no voter fraud. Massive democrat voter fraud operation caught in Houston:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1YqKDpoAdEoKV?t=1m57s&fbclid=IwAR1DGrUzoeoFq9b9FoJN6CxIDhGE_bgKLdZKfuZ7f0GvhFhKEPCmpG---WI [www.pscp.tv]
It's the tip of the iceberg of course, since normally the whole point of democrat-desired rules is to make investigation impossible. Y'all got too comfortable getting away with it though, too brave, with a foolish sense of immunity from facing justice. It's time for justice.
Up in Minnesota there's also the $200 per vote operation caught on video. That one was in the Somalian community, which of course is trying to make America like Somalia.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:00PM
Listen, a broken clock (the author of the linked-to article) is right twice a day. But this ain't the time, my friend...
(Score: 1, Troll) by DannyB on Monday October 26 2020, @05:25PM
The Trump administration cares deeply about holding monopolies. Especially if the monopolies are being held in a non-consensual way. Grab 'em by the monopolies.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @07:45AM (7 children)
If there isn't anti-conservative bias, you should be able to send a link to https://joebiden.info/ [joebiden.info] on Facebook or Instagram. Go try it. It's blocked even in private messages.
A publisher, the NY Post, is blocked on Twitter because they published evidence of Biden corruption. (with China, Russia, Ukraine) Go ahead, tweet about that, and see how long your account survives.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:02AM (4 children)
it's called email. If you want to send bullshit, you don't need to use Facebook or YouTube to spread it. Thousands have already DIED because of fucks sending bullshit for "lolz" or whatever perverted reason they've had and it's time to acknowledge that Facebook and YouTube is the main radicalization tool.
And congrats on being radicalized by the way.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @02:25PM (2 children)
I still run my own email.
Many others have outsourced theirs to Google. Can you still send anti-Biden links over Gmail? Links to the Great Barrington Declaration?
Trusts and monopolies are bad, they should be combatted early and hard.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday October 26 2020, @03:03PM (1 child)
Yes.
A noble sentiment... provided you can actually identify a monopoly. In recent months Your fellow AC brethren have been comically inept at that. It's not as simple as: "They big." Oh and if you're into that and also lean politically to the right, be prepared to be called out for your about-face on government regulation.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0, Troll) by PartTimeZombie on Monday October 26 2020, @11:24PM
Pretty sure that A/C is a 12 year old who has just read Ayn Rand, and is too stupid to figure it out for what it is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @02:33PM
A political satire site counts as radical nowadays? What was that phrase about knowing what people you were not allowed to question or criticize?
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 26 2020, @08:30PM (1 child)
I don't see the problem with any kind of corporate anti-conservative bias. One of the hallmarks of conservative thought is that corporations should be to run themselves in any way they see fit, **without government regulation**. If you don't believe this, you are not a true conservative.
So, it logically follows, you CANNOT be a conservative, and also demand government regulation of companies, even if it's to stop "anti-conservative" bias.
So, if you're not a true conservative, then WTF are you?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @09:07PM
Each party is a coalition of competing interests.
Just like the democrats struggle to keep blacks and muslims in a coalition with LGBT, the republicans struggle to keep various groups who partially hate each other.
Although it was Bush who said "You're either with us, or against us", it has long been democrats who put that into practice. Cancel culture is almost entirely the left.
Most bible thumpers, nearly all nationalists, and half the libertarians are now in the republican party. They hate each other. Maybe they don't hate each other as much as the muslims hate the LGBT, so it's a bit easier for republicans to be happy together. The libertarians and the bible thumpers definitely have some issues with each other.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:37AM (1 child)
On this day 20 years ago -- "Microsoft May Face Federal, State Antitrust Charges as Soon as November".
...and then the case was dropped by the incoming administration, when there'd been an unprecedented amount of financial and material support by the company during the campaign...
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 26 2020, @05:32PM
What is amusing is that Microsoft was clearly an abusive monopolist. More amusing was how the "pro business" Republicans dropped the case right after it had been won.
Why now do Republicans hate Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and Google?
Dear Republicans: you don't prosecute companies for merely being successful. (That is the job of the EU after all!)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 26 2020, @01:38PM (11 children)
If Biden wins, the charges will instantly go away. A few months after that, a social credit system will be made law that bans everyone who has "bad" opinions from the Internet. We will never have to question what our masters want us to believe again. The ones who voted for Biden will celebrate for a week or two until the new system is turned on them, too.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Tork on Monday October 26 2020, @03:06PM (4 children)
Heh. Which administration is currently combatting 'bad opinions' right now? 🙄
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Flamebait) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 26 2020, @06:22PM (3 children)
The Harris-Biden administration, and their enablers in the mainstream media and in Big Tech who are censoring all wrongthink?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday October 26 2020, @06:26PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @07:03PM (1 child)
Just like 2016, they seem to be betting on controlling the narrative through social media. I don't think they understand that the American on the street probably doesn't listen to influencers on social media, or celebrities elsewhere.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:07PM
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 26 2020, @05:35PM (3 children)
Banning from the internet seems so harsh.
Please look to China's social credit system which lets people use the internet, but simply punishes them with things such as discrimination on jobs, housing, loans, education, business opportunities, promotions and other things of lesser importance.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 26 2020, @06:17PM (2 children)
You're right, no job, no house, no financing, no education, no business opportunities are so much more humane than losing access to the Internet. Perhaps having a poor social credit score could make one eligible for being rounded up and relocated to an outdoor living facility, called a "camp." Bad opinions must be eliminated.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday October 26 2020, @08:12PM
If due to Covid, you've lost your lower-level support job and can't pay your rent and still have to stay socially distanced, you'll probably be camping somewhere. Not sure what that has to do with opinions, though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:59PM
Ouch, sad that you've fallen so far you can't even tell when someone is teasing you with a better point than you made. Par for the course I guess, conservatives seem to lack a sense if humor that doesn't involving punching down.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @06:03PM
OK Putin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @08:55PM
You are a special kind of stupid. Conservatives have typucally been the ones to harass people with things like social credit scores. Not a judeo christian believer? Demon! Had an abirtjon? DIE! Skin too dark? Subhuman!
I hope that humanity gets past this privacybinvading dystopuan nonsense, but the reality is that authoritarian governments love it. Liberal or conservative. However it is the conservative ones that really worry me because they are constantly fantasizing about scenarios where they can hurt people they don't like.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @03:39PM
Begging for handouts from Farcebook to keep The Big Welfare Machine running.