The @FTC and 48 state attorneys general's @Facebook trustbusting is a zealous takedown that harms consumers and punishes innovation.

*why?* Let's explain.

The actions by agencies of our federal and state governments to try to dismantle Facebook’s legal business acquisitions after-the-fact are woefully misguided and will end up harming consumers.

These are free services offered to consumers in a competitive marketplace that boasts hundreds of social apps for messaging, photo sharing, and social networking.

In terms of social messaging users, WhatsApp is dwarfed by Facebook’s own Messenger and even Snapchat in the U.S. And that’s not even considering the nearly 200 million iPhone US users who predominately use iMessage, or the nearly 100% of cell phone users who use traditional SMS.

Let’s be clear: The internet is the ultimate playground for consumer choice. Government attempts to intervene and regulate based on political considerations will only restrict consumer choice and deprive us of what we’ve thus far enjoyed.

Rather than speaking for consumers, the @FTC and attorneys general are willingly quashing their preferences and choice. That is a much more powerful monopoly than any social media platform could ever hope to achieve.

read more: https://consumerchoicecenter.org/the-governments-facebook-trustbusting-is-a-zealous-takedown-that-harms-consumers-and-punishes-innovation/

via @ConsumerChoiceC