Meta
, the parent company of Facebook, to stand trial for its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, a federal judge has ordered. The
Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) alleges that these purchases were anti-competitive moves aimed at suppressing potential rivals in the social media industry. The FTC's lawsuit seeks to dismantle the tech giant.
Judge James Boasberg rejected Meta's request to dismiss the case filed in 2020 – under the Trump administration. The FTC argues that Meta, then known as Facebook, overpaid for Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to eliminate potential threats instead of competing fairly.
While Judge Boasberg allowed the core claim regarding the acquisitions to proceed, he dismissed a separate allegation that Facebook unfairly restricted third-party app developers' access to its platform. He also ruled that Meta cannot argue that the
WhatsApp acquisition
strengthened its position against Apple and Google as a defence.
What FTC has to say
The FTC views the case as a bipartisan effort to curb Meta's alleged monopoly power and promote innovation in the social media landscape.
“This case represents a bipartisan effort to curtail Meta's monopoly power and restore competition to ensure freedom and innovation in the social media ecosystem,” said FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar.
What Meta spokesperson said
Meta maintains that the acquisitions benefited competition and consumers.
"We are confident that the evidence at trial will show that the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been good for competition and consumers," a Meta spokesperson said.
Meta had previously urged the judge to dismiss the entire case, saying it depended on an overly narrow view of social media markets, and did not take into account competition from ByteDance's TikTok, Google's YouTube, X and Microsoft's LinkedIn.
As per news agency Reuters, the case against Meta is one of five blockbuster lawsuits where antitrust regulators at the FTC and US Department of Justice are going after Big Tech.
English (US) ·