Tech

Florida's attorney general: There's no 'case study' for our multistate Facebook antitrust probe

Key Points
  • An antitrust precedent does not exist for a group of states to follow in their investigation of Facebook, says Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
  • "It's an entirely different way of dealing with a monopoly," she says, just days after Florida revealed its participation in a multi-jurisdictional probe.
  • Facebook is already facing a separate investigation over antitrust concerns by the Federal Trade Commission.
Florida AG Ashley Moody on probes into Google, Facebook
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Florida AG Ashley Moody on probes into Google, Facebook

Current antitrust inquiries into Facebook won't be following any common case studies, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody told CNBC on Monday.

"It's an entirely different way of dealing with a monopoly," she said, just days after Florida revealed its participation in a multi-jurisdictional investigation into Facebook for possible antitrust violations.

On Friday, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced the Facebook probe, which is also being supported by six other states and the District of Columbia.

"We will continue to share information [with the other states and D.C.] as we work through this investigation," Moody said on "Squawk on the Street."

"Depending upon what we ultimately find, that may indicate how we further collaborate," added Moody, a Republican who was elected last year.

Facebook is already facing a separate investigation over antitrust concerns by the Federal Trade Commission. In July, the social network reached a $5 billion settlement with the FTC over its privacy policies.

Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, has said in the past that breaking up the company that he helped start would hurt its efforts to combat misinformation and policy-violating content.

Another group of AGs on Monday afternoon launched a probe into Alphabet's Google over antitrust concerns.

Neither Google nor Facebook was immediately available to respond to CNBC's request for comment.

— Tune in to CNBC's "Closing Bell" at 4 p.m. ET for an interview with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.