Yesterday, Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C. federal court refused to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission‘s (FTC) antitrust lawsuit against Facebook in which government prosecutors are asking the court to demand that Facebook sell Instagram and WhatsApp, stating that it was a plausible case.
Ongoing legal challenges
The FTC’s ongoing legal challenges represent the American government’s attempts to address concerns over the power of large tech companies.
“Ultimately, whether the FTC will be able to prove its case and prevail at summary judgment and trial is anyone’s guess. The Court declines to engage in such speculation and simply concludes that at this motion-to-dismiss stage, where the FTC’s allegations are treated as true, the agency has stated a plausible claim for relief,” wrote Boasberg.
The FTC originally sued Facebook during the Trump administration, at the time its complaint was rejected by the court. The agency filed an amended complaint in August, more fully exploring its accusation that the tech firm undermined or bought rivals and once again asked the courts to force the company to sell Instagram and WhatsApp.
Interoperability issues
While the judge denied the dismissal of the case, he did state that the FTC could not press allegations that Facebook refused to allow interoperability permissions with competing apps in order to maintain its market dominance, stating that the policy had been abandoned in 2018 and Facebook’s most recent enforcement of the policy was even older.
“Today’s decision narrows the scope of the FTC’s case by rejecting claims about our platform policies. It also acknowledges that the agency faces a ‘tall task’ proving its case regarding two acquisitions it cleared years ago,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Facebook has recently ended the use of facial recognition software due to consumers’ concerns over privacy.
