The Political Insider

As early as next week, at least 40 states are set to file an antitrust lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook according to a new report.

CNBC reports that these states, led by New York, have been investigating Facebook for possible antitrust violations.

Four sources have reportedly confirmed this is happening and moving forward.

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Facebook Under Fire

CNBC noted, “The complaint would be the second major lawsuit filed against a Big Tech company this year. The Justice Department sued Alphabet’s Google in October.”

“More than 40 states plan to sign on to the lawsuit, one source said, without naming them,” the outlet reported.

“Facebook declined to comment,” CNBC said.

As President Trump continues to call for the repeal of Section 230, which protects big social media companies like Facebook and Twitter from liability, the spotlight on Big Tech continues to shine brighter and harsher.

Now, it appears the individual states are pushing this issue.

Breitbart News recently reported “the lawsuits reportedly focus on whether the tech giant abused their power in the internet economy, focusing on Google’s position in the search and advertising industry and Facebook’s dominance in the social media market.”

“Both companies have denied using their power in an anti-competitive manner, saying that they operate in extremely competitive markets and that their services benefit consumers,” Breitbart noted.

“Despite ongoing antitrust investigations and lawsuits, Facebook and Google are both on a spending spree to buy rivals and tech startups,” Breitbart added.

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Both Republicans And Dems Have Gone After Facebook – For Entirely Different Reasons

Zuckerberg’s Facebook continues to face increased scrutiny from both major parties, in addition to President Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.

Republicans generally believe Facebook has penalized conservative speech in ways that go against Section 230, which is supposed to be a shield for free and open speech on social media.

Democrats – supposed “liberals” – believe the social media giant needs to restrict speech even more, to combat “misinformation,” and that Section 230 prevents that from happening to the extent they wish. Joe Biden has even called for “revoking” Section 230.

Facebook is currently in crosshairs either way, and for good reason.

Section 230 demands that social media platforms behave as platforms that allow free speech, not publishers that edit their content. Facebook has been behaving for more like the latter as of late.

Conservative voices and sources have seen a drop in sharing on Facebook and Twitter even went so far as to censor a New York Times story on Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings. Twitter did this days before the election.

That is not behaving as a mere platform, but a publisher that is making editorial judgments and decisions.

Behaving as a publisher undermines the purpose and spirit of Section 230 and in the end could threaten Mark Zuckerberg’s entire business model.

And if that happens, it will be no one’s fault but his own.