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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a proceeding against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an attempt to thwart their “ultimate goal of owning the entire” Metaverse “. FTC said in a complaint filed in Northern California on Wednesday; Alleged the potential acquisition by Meta and Zuckerberg of virtual reality company, Within, and its fitness app Supernatural was illegal according to U.S. antitrust laws and how social media companies “lead” rather than “compete for merit.”
The complaint stated that under Zuckerberg, Meta was a try to buy its way to the top with the “potential entrant to the virtual reality fitness app market” this move is said to hinder “future innovation and competitive competition” between US companies.
“As Meta fully recognizes, the network effect on digital platforms can make the platform stronger, weaker rivals, unable to compete seriously, and increase users, content, and developers.
FTC said it plans to block Meta’s acquisition in order to promote competition and help consumers.
“The mere possibility of Meta’s entry could have affected competition in the virtual reality-only fitness app market. If Meta is allowed to buy with-in, that competitive pressure will diminish. . “
FTC is trying to thwart the acquisition of the popular app creator by virtual reality giant Meta. https://t.co/b87juAolBw
FTC (@FTC) July 27, 2022
The meta move to capture potential threats to revenue is nothing new. 2020, FTC Submission Facebook complaints before the company rebrands to Meta about curbing innovation about anti-competitive behavior against WhatsApp for $ 19 billion in 2014 and Instagram for $ 1 billion in 2012 It raises similar concerns. Both the messaging service and the photo-sharing app were claimed to be rivals to Facebook’s messenger app and main platform.
“Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $ 1 billion in April 2012 neutralizes the direct threat posed by Instagram, making it more difficult for other personal social networking competitors to scale up. It is said that it was, “said FTC at the time. “”[Its] The acquisition of WhatsApp neutralizes the prospect that WhatsApp itself could threaten Facebook’s personal social networking monopoly, ensuring that future threats will be more difficult to scale mobile messaging. It is said that. ”
Related: Experts clash about where virtual reality is in the Metaverse
Since Facebook rebranded to Meta in October 2021, social media companies have announced a number of initiatives focused on expanding into Metaverse, including the possibility of launching a payment platform that supports cryptocurrencies. did. In May, Meta opened a physical store in the San Francisco Bay Area to sell hardware for virtual reality space.
The sale is likely to close on August 1, according to the complaint, unless the court suspends Meta’s acquisition of Within.
