The US Justice Department is now opening up its own investigation into Facebook

Facebook is about to face an antitrust investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), according to Reuters. This will make it the fourth concurrent antitrust investigation into the social media conglomerate from the U.S. alone.

That joins probes from the Federal Trade Commission, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, and a coalition of state attorneys general.

The U.S. Department of Justice is about to launch its own antitrust investigation into Facebook

We don’t know yet the focus of the DOJ investigation, although an earlier statement mentioned concerns raised over “search, social media, and some retail services online.”

It’s likely that the DOJ will also be looking into Facebook’s acquisitions, much like the existing FTC probe. The social giant has bought some 90 companies since 2003, according to S&P Global.

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The other U.S. antitrust investigations into Facebook are:

• A bipartisan group of Attorney Generals from 8 states is investigating “whether Facebook has stifled competition and put users at risk”
• The Federal Trade Commission, which is looking at whether Facebook’s acquisitions were done in part to head off potential rivals
• House Judiciary lawmakers, who are also looking at Google, Amazon, and Apple in a wide-ranging probe. Ouch

While other “big tech” companies are getting similar probes, Facebook appears to be the most affected. That’s likely down to the way its platforms were used during the 2016 elections, meriting extra scrutiny from legislators.

What do you think? Glad to see companies like Facebook being investigated? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

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