Assignment 16- Katherine Henson- Unfriend Facebook

In 1890, Senator John Sherman presented the Anti Trust Act to Congress stating “if we will not endure a king as a political power, we should not endure a king over the necessities of life.” The Sherman AntiTrust Act was the first legislation passed in the US that placed restrictions on monopolies. It has recently been used to break up companies like AT&T and Microsoft to ensure a competitive free market. Over 100 years ago, when Sherman wrote his legislation, Silicon Valley was just a valley, and the web was made by spiders. The unprecedented rise of social media platforms in the past 15 years has left the government policy maker’s in the dust, allowing unregulated tech companies to rule. Today, I am going to focus on Facebook, defining how it is a monopoly, why this is bad, and offering solutions to this problem.

A monopoly, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC, is a single firm that unreasonably restrains competition. I believe Facebook is a monopoly. In 2012, Facebook purchased Instagram for a billion dollars. In 2018, Facebook acquired the leading messenger platform, WhatsApp, for 19 billion. In total, Facebook Incorporated includes over 80 companies. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook Inc, is on a quest for dominance of the Tech World.  In 2008, Zuckerberg attempted to buy Twitter twice. In 2013, Snapchat turned down a 3 billion dollar paycheck from Facebook. Zuckerberg’s attempts to gain total control over all social media platforms are concerning. Surprisingly, one of Facebook’s 5 core principles is to promote economic opportunity. They say “Our tools level the playing field so businesses grow” It sounds to me like Facebook is the playing field. Twitter and Snapchat both generate around 300 million monthly users. Compare this to the 2.3 billion monthly users Facebook generates. 1.6 billion WhatsApp users. 1 billion Instagramers. The disparity between these numbers is shocking. Platforms associated with Facebook generate more than 3 times the amount of monthly users compared to other independent platforms. Based on these facts, Facebook directly applies to the FTC’s definition of monopolies because of their demonstrated dominance of the market. 

Facebook Inc holds a monopoly over the social media industry. But why should we care? In 2018, the average adult spent 58 minutes per day on Facebook and  Instagram users averaged 53 minutes daily. Think about that! We spend more time weekly on these platforms than sitting in this class, giving Mark Zuckerberg more influence over our lives than our teachers. Zuckerberg reigns as king over hours of our week, whether we like it or not. Zuckerberg, head of Facebook and the majority shareholder, has been described as “untouchable” leading to a culture of unaccountability. Spring of 2018, Zuckerberg testified on the Senate floor over Facebook’s exploitation of the user’s privacy. Even after these accusations, Zuckerberg remains at the helm of one of the most powerful companies in the world. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes writes that “Mark’s influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government” John Sherman in 1890 cautioned this type of power. Zuckerberg is king over a modern necessity in our lives, communication, and privacy. 

Sherman’s Antitrust Act is the only solution to the mega of Facebook and Zuckerberg. Reversing the merger of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp will dramatically reduce the control over communications FB currently holds. These actions are supported by over 10 state attorneys, several economists, and even Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. This action is not unprecedented by the AntiTrust Act, shown by several cases resulting in breaking up a monopoly into smaller companies. In July, The FTC fined Facebook a historic 5 billion dollars because of the violation of user’s privacy. However, the next day Facebook’s shares went up 7 percent, adding 30 billion to its value. Fines are not the solution to the problem. Reversing the merger of the 3 largest social media platforms through the Sherman AntiTrust Act will allow the American people to choose where they wish to communicate and share ideas and will dethrone Zuckerberg as king.

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