The left turns up the heat to break up Facebook

A collection of progressive groups will launch a six figure digital ad offensive May 21 telling the Federal Trade Commission to break up Facebook’s social networking empire. The groups are asking for the FTC to do three things:

1. Break off Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger into their own companies separate from Facebook proper.
2. Make it possible for users on competing social networks to communicate with one another.
3. Implement strong privacy rules.

Groups involved range from the anti-concentration Open Markets Institute to broader progressive groups like Demand Progress and MoveOn Civic Action.