The social media firm deceived users about its privacy practices and bought competitors or denied them access to its platform to create a dominant position, according to a paper co-authored by Fiona Scott Morton, previously chief economist at the justice department’s antitrust division. Facebook declined to comment to the Financial Times. (Financial Times) 

Talking point: The paper argues Facebook acquired WhatsApp and Instagram before they got large enough to provide an alternative for users who wanted to switch. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission signed off on the latter deal in 2012—while Morton was still working on antitrust cases for the Obama administration—but reportedly launched a new review last year. In May, Facebook agreed to a $9 million fine and binding 10-year consent agreement with the Canadian Competition Bureau to end an investigation into what the regulator alleged were misleading privacy claims. Amazon, Google and other tech giants fund a network of political groups that argue they don’t threaten competition. Meanwhile, on Tuesday U.S. non-profits Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute announced they would no longer accept funding from Facebook in the wake of its decision not to remove a post by U.S. President Donald Trump threatening violence against protestors.