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FTC Being Pressured to Break Up Facebook

May 22, 2018  •  Post A Comment

A political battle is being waged over the social media site Facebook, with the Federal Trade Commission getting pressure from political groups on both sides of the aisle to break up the company.

MediaPost reports that a new alliance of left-leaning organizations is the latest to sound off on the issue, joining Facebook’s traditionally conservative critics.

“Rallying under the name ‘Freedom From Facebook,’ the alliance’s founding members include The Open Markets Institute, Demand Progress, Citizens Against Monopoly, SumOfUs, Content Creators Coalition, Jewish Voice for Peace, MPower Change, and MoveOn Civic Action,” MediaPost reports. “Specifically, the coalition is now calling on the Federal Trade Commission to force Facebook to spin off its various units, including Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.”

The report quotes Barry Lynn, executive director of the Open Markets Institute, saying that in its current form “Facebook threatens our democracy by choking off independent journalism, by manipulating how people talk to one another, and by broadcasting dangerous propaganda.”

The pressure from the left is a new twist in Facebook’s ongoing political battles. When founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress last month, some Republican lawmakers accused Facebook of censoring conservative-leaning posts.

 

One Comment

  1. Facebook isn’t responsible for what’s happened… its users are.

    Besides… there are other companies (such as one that starts with A and one with G) that are equally deserving (if not more so) of the wrath of all these groups.

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