Facebook has spent the past few years fighting the label of a monopoly, which many lawmakers and academics say is appropriate for a platform of its scale.
But among its ranks, Facebook employees acknowledge the vast power of the platform with details that could fuel ongoing and future antitrust lawsuits. The FTC recently filed an amended complaint alleging Facebook illegally maintained monopoly power in personal social networking services after a judge threw out its initial claims.
According to a report from Politico, 78% of American adults and nearly all teens in the U.S. use Facebook’s services. Even though competitors like TikTok and Snap have made progress with teen users, Facebook and Instagram continue to maintain a stronghold on activities like connecting with others on common interests and sharing photos and videos, according to a survey of users last year.
And once they sign up, few actually leave the platforms, Facebook’s own research reportedly shows.
In a 2018 presentation reviewed by Politico, employees wrote that despite “Facebook-the-company” doing only “okay” with teens around the world, “we do have one of the top social products — with growing market share — almost everywhere.”
Facebook spokesperson Christopher Sgro told Politico that, “Far from supporting the government’s case, the documents presented to Facebook firmly reinforce what Facebook has always said: We compete with a broad range of services for people’s time and attention, including apps that offer social, community, video, news and messaging features.”
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
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Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/25/facebook-whistleblower-documents-released-shares-under-pressure.html
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