> The complaint also alleges that Facebook, over many years, has imposed anticompetitive conditions on third-party software developers’ access to valuable interconnections to its platform, such as the application programming interfaces (“APIs”) that allow the developers’ apps to interface with Facebook. In particular, Facebook allegedly has made key APIs available to third-party applications only on the condition that they refrain from developing competing functionalities, and from connecting with or promoting other social networking services.
> The complaint alleges that Facebook has enforced these policies by cutting off API access to blunt perceived competitive threats from rival personal social networking services, mobile messaging apps, and other apps with social functionalities. For example, in 2013, Twitter launched the app Vine, which allowed users to shoot and share short video segments. In response, according to the complaint, Facebook shut down the API that would have allowed Vine to access friends via Facebook.
Making API's available "only on the condition that [developers] refrain from developing competing functionalities" is one thing; and I can see how that seems anticompetitive, I dont' know enough about the law to say when anticompetitive is illegal.
But that second one is more interesting. "shut down the API that would have allowed Vine to access friends via Facebook" -- they didn't just not have Vine have access to it, they removed it, and that is being complained about. The implication to me seems to be that facebook must provide certain API's to avoid anticompetitive behavior?
The API I personally most miss and am interested in is Events. My interest is definitely in reducing facebook's lock on users. A lot of people I know find missing out on events the hardest reason to leave facebook, and if an API was available show Facebook events on other platforms, it would definitely aid people in leaving Facebook, which is I presume exactly why Facebook got rid of the API, which sounds pretty similar to the Vine complaint, although I don't know whether there was a specific facebook competitor threatening them with events integration. I would be thrilled if the FTC made Facebook restore an Events API, hopefully in a way that was sufficiently full-featured for the kinds of integrations that would help people get off facebook. ("Help people get off", it sounds like an addiction, yup).