47 U.S. Attorneys General Launch a Joint Antitrust Investigation against Facebook

Forty-seven U.S. Attorneys General are launching a joint antitrust investigation against the leading social networking site Facebook (Facebook Inc.).

On their behalf, New York Attorney General Letitia James has specified the reasons for the investigation - "the Facebook company may have compromised consumer data, lowered the quality of consumer choice and increased the cost of advertising."

"Our investigation now has the support of 47 attorneys general from around the nation, who are all concerned that Facebook may have put consumer data at risk, reduced the quality of consumers' choices, and increased the price of advertising," James said in a statement. "As we continue our investigation, we will use every investigative tool at our disposal to determine whether Facebook's actions stifled competition and put users at risk."

Together with antitrust experts, state prosecutors have already held their first general meeting to decide on the possibility of a joint antitrust case against Facebook.