How Facebook Is Changing to Deal With Scrutiny of Its Power

Facebook has started to modify its behavior — in both pre-emptive and defensive ways — to deal with threats of regulation. Facebook has its eye particularly on the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that is now investigating it for anticompetitive practices. The social network’s changes are now prompting a debate about whether a more knitted-together Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram is just smart business or helps strengthen potential anticompetitive practices. “The big question is, is this a logical business plan?” said Gene Kimmelman, a former antitrust official in the Obama administration and senior adviser to Public Knowledge, a nonprofit think tank in Washington. “For a social network with enormous growth in photos and messaging, there’s probably significant business justification for combining the units.”