In August the FTC refreshed its antitrust case against
Facebook, now Meta Platforms, adding detail on the accusation the social media
company crushed or bought rivals and asking a judge to force it to sell
Instagram and WhatsApp.
The lawsuit represents one of the most significant
challenges the FTC has brought against a tech company in decades, and is being
closely watched as Washington aims to tackle Big Tech's extensive market power.
In a filing with the US District Court for the District of
Columbia, the FTC said that for more than a decade, Facebook's market share -
for example, more than 70 percent of daily active users - exceed the levels
needed to establish monopoly power.
It said that Facebook sought to maintain its monopoly
position by buying photo-sharing app Instagram and secure messaging app
WhatsApp.
Meta disagreed.
"The FTC has once again brought a monopolisation case
without a monopolist. Its claims ignore the reality that people have more
choices than ever before in how they share, connect, and communicate, and its
second complaint should be dismissed just like the first," a Meta
spokesperson said in a statement.
The FTC also argued that Facebook was wrong to ask that
Chair Lina Khan be recused from voting to approve the amended complaint. The
FTC said it was originally filed before she was nominated to the commission and
it would be the court, not the commission, which decided the case.
Facebook had said that Khan prejudged the case because of
her previous work. © Reuters
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