Facebook lawsuits present the social-media behemoth with its biggest regulatory threat yet

MLex Market Insight

It’s hard to understate the significance of the two lawsuits targeting Facebook that were announced in the United States this week. The ambition of the court action by the US Federal Trade Commission and a collection of 48 states and territories is, quite simply, staggering. If enforcers have their way, Facebook could be broken up, its future acquisitions could be challenged and the novel theory of antitrust harm centering on privacy and innovation could wreak havoc on the social-media platform’s business model. And in another setback for tech giants this week, Australia’s bold plan to force both Facebook and Google to pay news publishers for content entered the home stretch.