In recent years, Facebook has made some huge acquisitions, most notably, their acquisition of Instagram only a few years ago. Just within the past year alone we’ve seen top Facebook representatives be summoned to appear in front of congress to clear up issues surrounding the efficacy of their business practices.

This past Wednesday, 48 attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Facebook citing that fears of market capitalization are running rampant at the company. The announcement of this news shocked some while others welcomed it with open arms as the debate of how much control large tech companies like Facebook should have over your personal data and rights has been at the forefront for many years now.

A very interesting thing to note is that these huge legal moves by federal agencies isn’t only exclusive to the United States. Many European countries are seeing top regulators are also starting to crack down on the amount of power technology companies have in their local jurisdictions.

As more and more of these steps are being taken globally, you can expect to see many more restrictions being put on the capabilities of social media companies across the board.

What it means for Facebook
The primary basis of the lawsuits filed by the FTC against Facebook revolve around suspicions that the company is using user data without authorization. In court documents released, the FTC and the various attorneys general have substantial evidence that Facebook is using the data collected from users to help beat market competitors.

When looking at the implications of this case on Facebook’s future, we can use previous examples to get a better view. Just last October, Google had a landmark lawsuit filed against the company alleging the tech giant was beginning to form a monopoly on search advertising.

As a result, Google was forced to pay $1.7 billion in fines just last year alone. A similar fate is awaiting Facebook if they don’t find a way to clean up their internal operations. In a statement released by the company about the allegations, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had the following to say “Overall, we disagree with the government’s allegations, The reality is that we compete with many other services in everything we do, and we compete fairly.”

The mishandling of sensitive user information isn’t the only claim being alleged against the company. Facebook is also accused of putting U.S. security at risk via inadequate privacy protection practices in addition to being accused of aiding the spread of misinformation online. Just last year, Facebook faced a $5 billion dollar fine from the FTC due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

What it means for users
The lawsuits are aimed at breaking up Facebook’s sole ownership of popular apps like WhatsApp and Instagram to force the company to gain pre-approval for actions like this in the future. While it may not seem like a big deal to you, Facebook has multiple partnerships with other popular apps and companies that you more than likely use.

So, the steps being taken by the FTC are surely in the best interest of the American public. There are still many court dates and legal proceedings to be held around this issue. While we all wait for the final decision, you can guarantee the world will be watching and taking notes.