Explained: What would it take for US regulators to break up Facebook?

Facebook Inc co-founder and Mark Zuckerberg's former college roommate Chris Hughes urged US regulators to break up the social media company in a New York Times opinion piece on Thursday.

Facebook Inc co-founder and Mark Zuckerberg’s former college roommate Chris Hughes urged US regulators to break up the social media company in a New York Times opinion piece on Thursday. But antitrust law makes such a proposal tough to execute because the government would have to take the company to court and win. It is rare to break up a company but not unheard of, with Standard Oil and AT&T being the two biggest examples.