MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey has signed onto a massive lawsuit against Facebook that has the potential to restructure one of the country’s biggest and most powerful technology companies.
Healey was part of a bipartisan group of 47 attorneys general, led by the state of New York, that filed suit in US District Court in Washington, DC, alleging that Facebook illegally stifled competition to maintain its monopoly power. A separate complaint was filed by the Federal Trade Commission, which coordinated with the attorneys general in their investigation.
“For nearly a decade, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg ran an illegal monopoly in the social media sphere by buying out companies that showed promise as potential competitors and blocking others – and they did this at the expense of their users’ time and privacy,” Healey said in a statement. “We are suing to stand up for the millions of consumers and small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook’s illegal business practices.”
Facebook itself has a Massachusetts connection. It was founded by Zuckerberg in 2004 during his sophomore year at Harvard, although Zuckerberg would leave Harvard and move the company’s headquarters to California.
Today, according to the lawsuit, on any given day, more than half the US population over age 13 logs into a Facebook-owned service.
The lawsuit argues that Facebook illegally maintains a monopoly over the US personal social networking market by “deploying a buy-or-bury strategy that thwarts competition and harms both users and advertisers.” If a company tries to compete with Facebook, Zuckerberg buys them out. If the company resists, Zuckerberg blocks their access to Facebook – which leads to a drop in usage of their app.
One competitor cited in the suit said if a technology firm stepped onto Facebook’s turf or resisted pressure to sell, “Zuckerberg would go into ‘destroy mode’ subjecting your business to the ‘wrath of Mark.’”
The lawsuit cites Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion and WhatsApp for nearly $19 billion as examples of Zuckerberg offering inflated prices for a company in order to maintain Facebook’s dominance.
The lawsuit asks a judge to require Facebook to give notice of any future large acquisitions and to potentially require Facebook to divest itself of “illegally acquired companies” – including Instagram and WhatsApp.
The New York Times says the lawsuit underscores “the growing bipartisan and international tsunami against Big Tech,” with increasing regulatory scrutiny on tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. The Times notes that outgoing President Donald Trump and allies of President-elect Joe Biden have both argued that a few tech giants have too much power.
In October, the US Department of Justice and 11 Republican attorneys general sued Google on antitrust grounds, alleging that it used its dominance of the online search marketplace to stifle competition. The new Facebook lawsuit drew praise from politicians of both political parties on Capitol Hill.
Facebook has denied wrongdoing, with Facebook general counsel Jennifer Newstead calling the complaints “revisionist history.” “The most important fact in this case, which the Commission does not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it cleared these acquisitions years ago,” Newstead said in a statement, reported by Politico. “The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final.”
Politico says the last lawsuit to break up a major US company was resolved in 1984 with the breakup of AT&T’s Bell telephone monopoly.
SHIRA SCHOENBERG
FROM COMMONWEALTH
COVID-19 vaccines will roll out in three phases, with the tentative goal of “herd immunity” in six to nine months. There will be no out-of-pocket expense to get the vaccine. Prison inmates get high priority for the COVID-19 vaccine, but their advocates insist more prisoners should be released. Rev. Liz Walker of Roxbury Presbyterian Church warns that vaccinating communities of color won’t be easy because of a “troublesome trust factor.”
A new audit says a program to make state payments in lieu of taxes to municipalities that are home to Massachusetts land holdings is underfunded and unfair to rural towns in the western part of the state.
A property tax exemption for commercial solar projects is cutting into municipal tax revenues and threatening to stymie the development of future projects.
Opinion: Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and state Rep. Liz Miranda of Boston press Gov. Charlie Baker to sign the police reform legislation. “This change cannot wait. Lives literally depend on it.” … Trump’s rise and fall carry a surprising Massachusetts echo, reports attorney Margaret Monsell. … Paul Capper of Hingham YIMBY clarifies that his organization is supportive of racial equity, particularly as it applies to affordable housing. He said some of his previous comments suggesting Hingham was only interested in market-rate home buyers were misleading.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Despite critics, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were honored by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for their leadership during the pandemic. (Associated Press)
In a letter to Baker, more than 400 pastors urge the governor to veto a provision in the state budget that would expand access to abortion. (Boston Herald)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Boston city councilors approved on a 10-3 vote a measure beginning the process to change the city charter to give the 13-member body more say in the city budget process. (Boston Herald) Councilors also voted to add an equity lens to the city’s zoning code. (WBUR)
Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus tests positive for COVID-19. (Telegram & Gazette)
Boston claimed a victory in its ongoing intercity battle with Quincy to rebuild a bridge to Long Island as a judge voided a decision by Quincy’s conservation commission denying an environmental permit for the project. (Boston Globe)
A new regional firefighter training facility in Auburn that will serve 11 towns is expected to be completed this weekend. (Telegram & Gazette)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
The US recorded more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a day for the first time since the pandemic began. (New York Times) WBUR takes a look at one of the deadliest outbreaks at a nursing home this fall — at Hillcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Pittsfield.
The field hospital at Worcester’s DCU Center is experiencing higher than expected demand. (MassLive)
COVID-19 vaccine misinformation is out of control on social media, writes USA Today.
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
In his farewell speech to Congress, Rep. Joe Kennedy says greed, not scarcity, hinders the American government’s ability to help others. (Associated Press) Joan Vennochi speculates on Kennedy’s future in an era when being a “rich, white, male, and rooted in the legacy of a famous Irish-American family” doesn’t bring the political advantages it once did. (Boston Globe)
Residents of rural Mitchell, South Dakota, largely ignored public health warnings about the risks of COVID-19 — until the bodies started piling up there. (Washington Post)
ELECTIONS
Georgia Republicans say they will turn out to vote in the two Senate special elections in January, despite their belief in unfounded claims that widespread fraud tilted their state — and the over November election result — to Joe Biden. (Boston Globe)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera will be nominated by Gov. Charlie Baker to become the next CEO of MassDevelopment. (State House News Service)
EDUCATION
US Rep. Richard Neal holds a listening session for teachers, who tell him they want to return to school, but not until it’s safe. (MassLive)
K-12 teachers can get vaccinated in Phase 2 of the state’s plan, but students cannot because the vaccines have not yet been tested on minors. (MassLive)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
The Becker College police chief is arrested for crashing into another car while drunk and trying to run away. (Telegram & Gazette)
Serge Georges is unanimously confirmed to become a justice on the Supreme Judicial Court. (MassLive)
A lawsuit from a Barnstable police officer claims age discrimination and retaliation by his superiors for reporting a lieutenant was allegedly drinking on the job. (Cape Cod Times)
There are more than 70 positive COVID-19 cases among staff, prisoners and correctional officers at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility. (Patriot Ledger)
PASSINGS
Peggy Starr, a lifelong champion of arts and culture in the Springfield area, dies at 100. Starr was the wife of long-time Springfield Republican publisher David Starr. (MassLive)
Ronald Valerio of Auburn, a businessman, Democratic Party activist, and booster for Worcester State University, dies at 68. Valerio was an Electoral College elector, who was days away from casting his vote for Joe Biden. (Telegram & Gazette)
Springfield Republican editor Greg Saulmon pens a moving tribute to his former employer, Sidney Lancto, who worked nearly half his life at a men’s clothing store in the Hampshire Mall and maintained long-time relationships with his former employees. Lancto died at 82.