Facebook acquisition of Instagram, WhatsApp probed by FTC in broad antitrust inquiry

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing acquisitions by Facebook Inc. as part of an early stage antitrust investigation of the social media platform, according to people familiar with the matter.

The agency’s look at whether the company acquired upstarts to thwart competition is part of the broad probe into into several business lines — social media, digital advertising and mobile applications — that Facebook disclosed in July.