THE BIG STORY

The US government says Facebook needs to sell Instagram and WhatsApp

This is a huge deal. According to antitrust lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 46 states and two territories, Facebook has used illegal monopoly power and an “unlawful scheme” to stifle competition, degrade personal privacy, and crush rivals.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the social giant “used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition.” The suits cite Facebook’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram and its 2014 purchase of WhatsApp as key examples of alleged anticompetitive behavior.

The suits ask the courts to permanently stop Facebook from continuing its allegedly illegal behavior, and to potentially force it to divest its major assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

In a statement, Jennifer Newstead, Facebook's vice president and general counsel called the lawsuits “revisionist history,” and points out that the commission “cleared these acquisitions years ago.”

Worth noting:

During public hearings, a House subcommittee released emails from Mark Zuckerberg in which he told a company executive that acquiring Instagram would neutralize a competitor.

“These businesses are nascent but the networks are established, the brands are already meaningful, and if they grow to a large scale they could be very disruptive to us,” Zuckerberg wrote in early 2012.

Forty-five minutes later, Zuckerberg attempted to walk it back: “I didn’t mean to imply that we’d be buying them to prevent them from competing with us in any way,” he wrote in a follow-up message.

Mark Zuckerberg at Congressional hearing. AP

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Ellen Show employees say they’re losing advertisers, celebrity bookings, and rating after reports of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace

It’s been roughly two months since the return of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, a season that began after reports of a toxic work environment that included sexual harassment, and things are a bit different.

The show is losing advertisers, struggling to book A-list celebrities, and suffering a dip in ratings during what is usually the busiest time of year, sources with knowledge of the situation told BuzzFeed News.

Even publicists in the entertainment industry told us some of their clients have specifically said they don’t want to appear on the show.

SNAPSHOTS

The Trump administration has backed down from a subpoena demanding BuzzFeed News divulge its sources. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials demanded that we identify sources. Now officials have retreated, saying they won’t enforce the summons.

Spokane Democrats say that a man tried to detonate a bomb inside their county headquarters. While holding a bag, a man allegedly said he had a bomb and handed over a one-page note that a witness described to KHQ-TV as a “manifesto.” Police confirmed the suspect handed a note to a worker in the building, but did not disclose its contents.

Hunter Biden says he’s under federal investigation over his taxes. A source told us the investigation is not related to the attacks that outgoing President Donald Trump and his allies have made against Joe Biden’s son.

YouTube will start removing election conspiracy content (32 days after Biden won). Thousands of videos uploaded before Wednesday that cast doubt on the election results will be allowed to remain on the platform.

LIVING IN ANOTHER WORLD

“There was a pandemic?” What life is like inside countries where there is no COVID

In several countries, COVID cases are low to nonexistent. In some cases, this has been the case for months. Life there looks… normal. Some people even occasionally forget there’s a pandemic going on.

Here’s an idea of just how normal everything is: In New Zealand, people are going to malls without masks and sharing popcorn with friends in movie theaters. In Australia, they are watching live theater and attending packed concerts. In Taipei, the Taiwanese capital, more than 130,000 gathered for one of the only Pride parades to take place in person this year.

This quote stuck with me: “It feels weird, because I feel like when people talk about this in 10 years, they’ll be like, ‘Remember the pandemic?’ and I’ll be like, ‘There was a pandemic?’”

Here’s a snapshot of life in the countries that don’t have COVID.

Left: A drag queen performance in Bangkok. Right: Friends at a bar in Perth.

Make space in your day for unrushed gratitude,

Elamin