Facebook would have to face antitrust over plans to buy Houseparty

Facebook has reportedly shuts the plan to buy popular group video chat app called Houseparty. The talks ended after Facebook realized that acquiring another big social networking player will invite anti-trust probe risk from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as per The New York Times reports. The report further says, company was in advanced discussions with the video chat app.

Houseparty with an objective to, users to perform video chat with multiple people at once and is popular among those under age 24. Online video game Fortnite maker Epic Games acquired Houseparty in June for an undisclosed amount and the FTC approved just a month before on a historic settlement involving about $5 billion with Facebook over its probe into the tech giant`s privacy violations including the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The US FTC is also probing what prompted Facebook to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp and as per the report now, FTC is looking to find out whether Facebook was trying to snuff out potential competitors before they could truly challenge the social media giant. Now,the discussions with Houseparty ended discussions on the deal after it became clear that acquiring another social media company would be too risky, given Facebook’s dominance in the space.

Houseparty allows users to video chat with multiple users at once and is popular among those under age 24. The company was acquired in June by Fortnite maker Epic Games for an undisclosed sum. Facebook faces greater scrutiny from regulators around the world for more transparency over data privacy practices and how and with whom Facebook shares user information.

Now, Facebook is working towards merging all its platforms into one unified experience for users, Facebook is adding its brand name to Instagram and WhatsApp. Instagram will soon become “Instagram from Facebook” and WhatsApp will turn into “WhatsApp from Facebook”.