FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2022

CONTACT: Roberto Hylton, roberto@npagency.com

Statement from Open Markets Institute Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan: 

WASHINGTON, DC - “We applaud the Federal Trade Commission for seeking today to stop Facebook's proposed acquisition of virtual reality (VR) fitness app maker Within. In filing suit against Facebook and CEO and controlling shareholder Mark Zuckerberg, the FTC recognized Zuckerberg's ambition to buy his way to dominance in another market--the market for VR dedicated fitness apps--and the larger VR universe. The FTC correctly decided to block the acquisition and aims to prevent Zuckerberg from replicating in VR his acquisition-first strategy to dominance in the social networking market. Facebook should compete in the VR market (and other markets) by building instead of buying. As the FTC wrote in its complaint, ‘Building instead of buying would entail developing additional expertise, undertaking product research and design, hiring more employees, and making other key investments.’ This lawsuit is a step toward making building, not buying, the norm for Facebook and other large corporations.”

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The Open Markets Institute is a team of journalists, researchers, lawyers, economists, and advocates working together to expose and reverse the stranglehold that corporate monopolies have on our country.