Facebook Confident It Can Prevail Over US Government Anti-Trust Actions

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Facebook is confident it can overcome the anti-trust lawsuits filed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 states, Vice President and General Counsel Jennifer Newstead said in a statement.

Earlier on Wednesday, the FTC said it sued Facebook over alleged anti-competitive practices and is seeking to require divestitures of the company's assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp. In addition, a 48-state coalition filed a similar anti-trust lawsuit against the social media giant.

"We look forward to our day in court, when we’re confident the evidence will show that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp belong together, competing on the merits with great products," Newstead said on Wednesday.

The company said the FTC lawsuit risks creating doubt in the federal government's merger review process.

The FTC lawsuit also aims to prohibit Facebook from imposing anticompetitive conditions on software developers and requires Facebook to seek prior notice and approval for future mergers and acquisitions.

The suits seek to end Facebook's virtual monopoly on social media after its buy-outs of dedicated image-sharing site Instagram in 2012 and mobile-phone messaging app WhatsApp in 2014.