Facebook Under Investigation: Snap Reportedly Kept 'Project Voldemort' Dossier On Facebook's Anticompetitive Activities

Employees from Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, have told federal investigators that they kept files on Facebook's anti-competitive activities, which is known as "Project Voldemort," the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

"Project Voldemort," a reference to the main antagonist in the Harry Potter series, was compiled by Snap's legal team. The dossier showed how Facebook had tried to stifle competition, such as by keeping popular figures from referencing Snapchat on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

Snap also claims that Instagram has blocked searches for Snapchat-related content.

Facebook has yet to comment on the report.

One way Facebook may have squashed competition from Snapchat is by copycatting its features. The stories feature, which is available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, mimics Snapchat by allowing users to upload photo and video montages that erase themselves within 24 hours.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently undergoing an investigation of big tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google. The FTC is trying to determine whether these big tech companies have too much power in the marketplace and whether they are stifling competition.

The FTC antitrust probe has scrutinized Facebook's acquisition of digital platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp and is investigating if those acquisitions were made to neutralize Facebook's competition. S&P Global claims that Facebook has acquired 90 companies in the last 15 years.

Matt Perault, the director of public policy at Facebook, has defended the acquisitions, saying at a congressional hearing in July that the acquired companies "have had more opportunity to innovate than they would have on their own – enhancing users' experience and resulting in more choice for more people overall, not less."

As of the second quarter of 2019, Snapchat has 203 million active daily users worldwide. Facebook had 2.41 billion active users during the same period.