FTC to appeal court ruling on Meta win in monopoly case
Published in Business News
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it will appeal a federal judge’s decision that Meta Platforms Inc. doesn’t have a monopoly in social networking.
Judge James Boasberg ruled in November that Meta’s acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp didn’t violate antitrust laws. His decision found the social networking giant didn’t illegally monopolize the market since it competes with Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube and TikTok.
“Meta violated our antitrust laws when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp,” FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson said in a statement. “The staggering market power was on full display for everyone to see in 2020,” when the agency initially filed its lawsuit, during the first Trump administration, he said.
“The district court’s decision to reject the FTC’s arguments is correct, and recognizes the fierce competition we face,” Meta spokesperson Christopher Sgro said in a statement. “We will remain focused on innovating and investing in America.”
The ruling was a massive loss for the FTC, which had filed the suit seeking to break up the company in 2020.
The FTC filed a notice of appeal with the court Tuesday and plans to file its full appellate arguments later. The agency believes Boasberg incorrectly examined the current competitive conditions, rather than the market as it existed when the agency first sued, according to a senior agency official, who asked not to be identified citing internal agency discussions. Even today, Meta’s Instagram doesn’t directly compete with either YouTube or TikTok, the official said.
Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has spent much of the year courting President Donald Trump and his administration, including through key corporate and product changes such as eliminating hate speech rules and dismantling outside fact-checking efforts and diversity initiatives.
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