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Hi,
Will you sign the petition demanding that Congress take on Facebook's unprecedented power?
Big Tech continues to assert its heavy hand in manipulating the flow of information that shapes public opinion -- with algorithms that prioritize extremist content in order to drive profits. Facebook, along with Amazon and Google have amassed enough political clout to evade antitrust laws, bypass corporate taxes, and influence global geopolitics.
Until now.
We need to make sure Congress takes stronger, bolder action that will take on their power and protect our democracy and economy from the tech giants.
Sign the petition: Congress must break up Facebook's gargantuan monopoly!
Acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 not only consolidated Facebook’s control over the entire social media landscape, but also gave the company access to unprecedented amounts of data from nearly three billion active users.1 And as competition has decreased, Facebook’s privacy policy has only gotten worse.
In response, the FTC voted last year to sue Facebook for illegally building a social networking monopoly by buying up competitors. Lawmakers asked the court to force Facebook to undo its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram—which, in the years since, have become some of the most popular platforms in the world—and return them to the status of independent competitors.
But the court threw out that lawsuit.
Mark Zuckerberg controls 60% of the Facebook board’s voting shares—essentially granting him more power than anyone in government or the private sector.2 He alone can make decisions about Facebook’s privacy regulation and can easily disarm competitors by acquiring, blocking, or copying them.
If lawmakers continue turning a blind eye to Facebook's monopoly, its stranglehold on American democracy will only tighten. Congress must fight for the security of users and small businesses.
Sign the petition: Congress must break up Facebook!
Thanks for taking action,
Tara and the Demand Progress Team
Sources:
1. Facebook Investor Relations, "Facebook Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Results," January 27, 2021.
2. Vox, "Mark Zuckerberg is essentially untouchable at Facebook," December 19, 2018.
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