47 Attorneys general. representing several states, the District of Columbia, and the territory of Guam, have joined New York in actively investigating Facebook for potential antitrust violations, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Tuesday.
Attorneys general for Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia have joined New York as part of a leadership team investigating the social media giant, James said.
The investigation has been joined publicly by attorneys general representing Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the territory of Guam.
According to James, attorneys general from seven other states, who “cannot confirm their participation in pending investigations,” have also signed on to the investigation.
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“As we continue our investigation, we will use every investigative tool at our disposal to determine whether Facebook’s actions stifled competition and put users at risk,” James said.
Attorneys general representing Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. also issued statements about the investigation. Read them here.
James’ announcement comes one day before Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before Congress about a new cryptocurrency the platform is planning on launching.
A similar state-level antitrust investigation has been opened against Google, and the Federal Trade Commission has also started a probe into Facebook and Amazon. In June, the FTC and Justice Department reached an arrangement granting DOJ authority to investigate Google and Apple; however, the agency has not so far announced a formal investigation.
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