competition
Bulletins

Europe will probe Facebook's purchase of Kustomer

The European Commission is concerned Facebook could prevent Kustomer's rivals from using Facebook's platforms to communicate with customers.

Margrethe Vestager holds her hand to her face during an event.

Margrethe Vestager is in charge of Europe's competition policy.

Image: Web Summit / Protocol

The European Commission announced Monday it will probe Facebook's purchase of customer relationship management platform Kustomer.

The commission cited concerns that the deal could enable Facebook to stop Kustomer's rivals from using WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger to communicate with customers. The commission said it was also worried that the deal could increase "the data advantage of Facebook."

"Our investigation aims to ensure that the transaction will not harm businesses or consumers, and that any data that Facebook gets access to does not distort competition," said Margrethe Vestager, the commission's executive vice president.

The U.K.'s competition watchdog opened a probe into the acquisition on Friday.

 Ben Brody

Ben Brody (@ BenBrodyDC) is a senior reporter at Protocol focusing on how Congress, courts and agencies affect the online world we live in. He formerly covered tech policy and lobbying (including antitrust, Section 230 and privacy) at Bloomberg News, where he previously reported on the influence industry, government ethics and the 2016 presidential election. Before that, Ben covered business news at CNNMoney and AdAge, and all manner of stories in and around New York. He still loves appearing on the New York news radio he grew up with.

antitrust facebook competition
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Bulletins