Judge Denies Meta Motion to Dismiss FTC Antitrust Lawsuit

A judge reportedly ruled Wednesday (Nov. 13) that a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit against Meta can go to trial, largely denying the company’s motion to have the case dismissed.

The FTC filed the suit in 2020, seeking the breakup of Meta and alleging that the company bought Instagram and WhatsApp in an illegal effort to maintain a monopoly in social media, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Meta had asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying the case did not take into account the competition the company faces from other social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, X and LinkedIn, according to the report.

In his Wednesday ruling, Judge James Boasberg let stand the FTC’s claim but dismissed the regulator’s allegation that Facebook restricted third-party app developers’ access to the platform in order to remain dominant in the market, per the report.

A Meta spokesperson said in the report: “We are confident that the evidence at trial will show that the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been good for competition and consumers.”

FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar said in the report that the FTC filed the case under the Trump administration and continued it under the Biden administration, adding that the case “represents a bipartisan effort to curtail Meta’s monopoly power and restore competition to ensure freedom and innovation in the social media ecosystem.”

No date has been set for the trial, per the report.

Meta petitioned the court to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit in April, saying it doubted the FTC’s ability to demonstrate the relevant market or prove that its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were detrimental to consumers.

The lawsuit was initiated in December 2020 by the FTC and more than 40 state attorneys general. The FTC’s original lawsuit was dismissed in June 2021, with a federal judge ruling that the agency failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the claim that Meta held a monopoly. The FTC filed an amended lawsuit less than two months later.

In another, separate issue between Meta and the FTC, it was reported Tuesday (Nov. 12) that Meta rejected the FTC’s plan to modify a 2020 privacy settlement. An attorney for the tech giant told the agency’s commissioners at a hearing that such a move would need to come from a federal court.