Facebook Loses EU Friends as Bloc's Lawmakers Weigh Break Up

CEO Zuckerberg quizzed on monopoly power by politicians
Company faces new regulation and antitrust enforcement

The Facebook Inc. logo is displayed for a photograph on an Apple Inc. iPhone in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Facebook is struggling to respond to growing demands from Washington to explain how the personal data of millions of its users could be exploited by a consulting firm that helped Donald Trump win the presidency.Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Aoife White and Stephanie Bodoni

May 23, 2018 at 2:40 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Facebook Inc.’s founder Mark Zuckerberg probably realized he was on unfriendly territory when European Union lawmakers at Tuesday’s hearing threw in an early question: Can you tell us why your company shouldn’t be broken up?

After the smiles, selfies and handshakes, two of the assembly’s top legislators said Facebook’s monopoly power should be looked at by antitrust officials -- three years after parliamentarians urged regulators to weigh splitting up another Silicon Valley giant, Google.