Facebook Inc.’s antitrust woes widened Tuesday as dozens more states joined New York’s wide-ranging investigation into whether the company’s business practices have stifled competition or put users at risk. A total of 45 states — plus Guam and the District of Columbia — are now partnering in the bipartisan investigation, New York Atty. The state probes target a wide range of practices that generate billions of dollars in revenue for the world’s biggest social-media company and the largest seller of search-based advertising. The meetings raised the prospect that the states could join the federal probes, similar to the way states collaborated with the epic U.S. antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. that started in the 1990s. AdvertisementIn addition to the federal and state probes, Facebook is also under investigation by the House Judiciary Committee, which is conducting a broad review of the control that big internet platforms have over the economy.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 22, 2019 18:11 UTC