The Federal Trade Commission, along with 47 states and Washington D.C. have accused Facebook of becoming a social media monopoly by "crushing smaller rivals", according to separate federal lawsuits filed on Wednesday. According to the New York Times, "Federal and state regulators, who have been investigating the company for over 18 months, said in separate lawsuits that Facebook’s purchases, especially Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion two years later, eliminated competition that could have one day challenged the company’s dominance."
