{"id":913,"date":"2021-11-20T15:15:03","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T14:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/2021\/11\/20\/facebook-faces-new-antitrust-lawsuit-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2021-11-20T15:15:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T14:15:03","slug":"facebook-faces-new-antitrust-lawsuit-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/2021\/11\/20\/facebook-faces-new-antitrust-lawsuit-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Faces New Antitrust Lawsuit &#8211; The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cfbc967f0983488262956e73eca9483a\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3859091246952232\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- blok -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3859091246952232\" data-ad-slot=\"1334354390\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<\/div>\n<p>Advertisement<br \/>Supported by<br \/>The suit, filed by the now defunct photo start-up Phhhoto, accused the social network of stalling on a deal and then putting it out of business.<br \/><strong>Send any friend a story<\/strong><br \/>As a subscriber, you have <strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">10 gift articles<\/strong> to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.<br \/><span class=\"byline-prefix\">By <\/span><span class=\"css-1baulvz\" itemprop=\"name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/sheera-frenkel\" class=\"css-mrorfa e1jsehar0\">Sheera Frenkel<\/a><\/span> and <span class=\"css-1baulvz last-byline\" itemprop=\"name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/daisuke-wakabayashi\" class=\"css-mrorfa e1jsehar0\">Daisuke Wakabayashi<\/a><\/span><br \/>SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook\u2019s chief executive, downloaded a popular new app, Phhhoto, on Aug. 8, 2014, and took a selfie. Other Facebook executives and product managers soon followed suit. The social network then made overtures to integrate Phhhoto.<br \/>But the interest of Facebook\u2019s top executives in Phhhoto was just a show, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York by the start-up, which is now defunct. Instead, Facebook simply wanted to squash the competition, according to the suit, which accused the company of antitrust violations.<br \/>In the suit, Phhhoto\u2019s founders \u2014 Champ Bennett, Omar Elsayed and Russell Armand \u2014 claim that after Mr. Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives downloaded their app and approached them about a partnership, no deal materialized. Facebook instead launched a competing product that mirrored Phhhoto\u2019s features. Facebook also suppressed Phhhoto\u2019s content within its photo-sharing app, Instagram, the suit says.<br \/>Phhhoto is represented by Gary L. Reback, a well-known lawyer. In the 1990s, Mr. Reback persuaded the Justice Department to sue Microsoft for violating antitrust laws, a case that Microsoft ultimately settled in 2001. Phhhoto\u2019s suit seeks unspecified monetary damages from Facebook.<br \/>The lawsuit stands out because of Mr. Zuckerberg\u2019s personal involvement, Mr. Reback said in an interview. He called Mr. Zuckerberg \u201cthe monopolist\u2019s C.E.O.\u201d and said the Facebook founder had engaged in \u201canticompetitive conduct to an extent not seen since Bill Gates,\u201d one of the founders of Microsoft.<br \/>\u201cThis suit is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously,\u201d Joe Osborne, a spokesman for Meta, Facebook\u2019s parent company, said late Thursday night.<br \/>The lawsuit is the most recent antitrust challenge to the world\u2019s largest tech companies. Facebook, Google and Apple all have faced suits from rivals over the years, accusing them of copying their technology or buying them to squash them.<br \/>The lawsuit also adds to the woes for Facebook, which was last week <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html\" title=\"\">renamed Meta<\/a>. The Federal Trade Commission has sued <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/19\/technology\/ftc-facebook-antitrust.html\" title=\"\">the company, accusing it of violating antitrust laws <\/a>by holding a monopoly on social networking through its acquisitions of Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp. The social network also has been under intense public scrutiny after Frances Haugen, a former employee, leaked thousands of internal documents detailing how the company\u2019s platforms have been used to spread <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/22\/technology\/facebook-election-misinformation.html\" title=\"\">misinformation<\/a>, <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/23\/technology\/facebook-india-misinformation.html\" title=\"\">hate speech<\/a> and conspiracies.<br \/>Even so, Michael Carrier, a professor at Rutgers University\u2019s law school, said the standards for antitrust litigation remain high.<br \/>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to show monopolization,\u201d he said. \u201cThe tumult across the political landscape isn\u2019t necessarily going to be reflected in how the courts rule.\u201d<br \/>Phhhoto was founded in 2012 and the app was launched in 2014. People used it to edit photos and link images together into looping videos. It became buzzy and was promoted by celebrities such as Beyonc\u00e9, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry.<br \/>After Mr. Zuckerberg downloaded the app in 2014, Kevin Systrom, a founder of Instagram, and senior managers at Facebook and Instagram also did so, according to the suit.<br \/><strong>A tech giant in trouble.<!-- --> <\/strong><span>The leak of internal documents by a former Facebook employee has provided <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/04\/technology\/facebook-files.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">an intimate look<\/a>\u00a0at the operations of the secretive social media company and renewed calls for better regulations of the company\u2019s wide reach into the lives of its users.<\/span><br \/><strong>How it began.<!-- --> <\/strong><span>In September, The Wall Street Journal published The Facebook Files, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/17\/business\/dealbook\/facebook-files-whistleblower.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">a series of reports based on leaked documents<\/a>. The series exposed evidence that Facebook, which on Oct. 28 assumed the corporate name of Meta, knew Instagram, one of its products <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/01\/technology\/facebook-instagram-teenagers.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">was worsening body-image issues among teenagers<\/a>.<\/span><br \/><strong>The whistle-blower.<!-- --> <\/strong><span>During an interview with \u201c60 Minutes\u201d that aired Oct. 3, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/03\/technology\/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">Frances Haugen, a Facebook product manager <\/a>who left the company in May, revealed that she was responsible for the leak of those internal documents.<\/span><br \/><strong>Ms. Haugen\u2019s testimony in Congress.<!-- --> <\/strong><span>On Oct. 5, Ms. Haugen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/05\/technology\/what-happened-at-facebook-whistleblower-hearing.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">testified before a Senate subcommittee<\/a>, saying that Facebook was willing to use hateful and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/05\/technology\/haugen-facebook.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">harmful content<\/a>\u00a0on its site to keep users coming back. Facebook executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, called her accusations untrue.<\/span><br \/><strong>The Facebook Papers.<!-- --> <\/strong><span>Ms. Haugen also filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission and provided the documents to Congress in redacted form. A congressional staff member then supplied the documents, known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/business\/facebook-papers-takeaways.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">Facebook Papers<\/a>, to several news organizations, including The New York Times.<\/span><br \/><strong>New revelations.<!-- --> <\/strong><span>Documents from the Facebook Papers show the degree to which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/22\/technology\/facebook-election-misinformation.html?action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc\">Facebook knew of extremist groups on its site<\/a>\u00a0trying to polarize American voters before the election. They also reveal that internal researchers had repeatedly determined how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/technology\/facebook-like-share-buttons.html?action=click&#038;action=click&#038;pgtype=Article&#038;state=default&#038;module=styln-facebook-meta&#038;variant=show&#038;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&#038;block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc&#038;module=RelatedLinks&#038;pgtype=Article\">Facebook\u2019s key features<\/a>\u00a0amplified toxic content on the platform.<\/span><br \/>In February 2015, Bryan Hurren, then Facebook\u2019s strategic partnerships manager, reached out to Phhhoto\u2019s founders to discuss a \u201cplatform integration opportunity,\u201d according to the suit. Mr. Hurren offered to integrate Phhhoto into Facebook\u2019s News Feed, the suit says, which was prime real estate on the world\u2019s largest social platform.<br \/>But \u201cFacebook strung Phhhoto along for months without making meaningful progress on the supposed integration,\u201d the suit says. Mr. Hurren told Phhhoto that Facebook was \u201chung up on some legal conversations,\u201d the suit says.<br \/>On March 31, 2015, Instagram changed its settings so that Phhhoto users couldn\u2019t find their Instagram friends. When Phhhoto reached out to Facebook about the issue, Mr. Hurren told them \u201cthat Instagram was apparently upset that Phhhoto was growing in users through its relationship with Instagram,\u201d according to the suit.<br \/>Phhhoto\u2019s founders decided to move forward with an Android version of their app, which had only been available on iPhones. But on Oct. 22, 2015, just hours before Phhhoto was set to launch its Android app, Instagram unveiled a product that was a \u201cslavish clone\u201d of Phhhoto, according to the suit.<br \/>Instagram introduced other changes in March 2016 that reduced the visibility of Phhhoto\u2019s content, the suit says. Phhhoto\u2019s founders discovered the change when one of them posted two videos to Instagram, one through his Phhhoto-linked account and the other through a new Instagram account he had opened. While the second account had a fraction of the followers, the video was viewed and liked more than the identical video posted to the Phhhoto-linked account, according to the suit.<br \/>Phhhoto shut down in June 2017, \u201clacking investment or any other means to remain viable,\u201d according to the suit.<br \/>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/11\/04\/technology\/facebook-antitrust-lawsuit-phhhoto.html\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AdvertisementSupported byThe suit, filed by the now defunct photo start-up Phhhoto, accused the social network of stalling on a deal and then putting it out of business.Send any friend a storyAs a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.By Sheera Frenkel and Daisuke WakabayashiSAN FRANCISCO \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1sXXCw:productID":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}