Post by cjm on Nov 9, 2019 5:31:06 GMT
In multiple discussions found in the documents, employees, including some top executives, argued against policies that would cut off competitors’ ability to advertise on the platform and access Facebook’s audience and user information, which it provided to non-competing companies.
The documents, published in full by NBC News on Wednesday, show a variety of conversations about actions taken to limit some companies’ use of the platform’s data and services. The messages are surfacing as Facebook faces antitrust probes from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and 47 state attorneys general. The probes are focused in particular on the company’s acquisitions and restrictions on competitors.
As it designated which companies it believed to be competitors, Facebook specifically targeted messaging services. The documents show that in the months leading up to Facebook’s $22 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, executives were fearful that messaging startups would evolve into rival social networks.
Eventually, Facebook cut off all developers from access to data on users’ friends. The documents allege that the company whitelisted certain partners, who were all major advertisers, so they could continue to have access despite the policy change.