Deals
Facebook Acquisitions Probed by FTC in Broad Antitrust Inquiry
- Agency contacting third parties to understand market dynamics
- Critics say Instagram, WhatsApp deals should have been blocked
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing acquisitions by Facebook Inc. as part of an early stage antitrust investigation of the social media platform, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agency’s look at whether the company acquired upstarts to thwart competition is part of the broad probe into into several business lines -- social media, digital advertising and mobile applications -- that Facebook disclosed in July.