The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can proceed with an antitrust lawsuit against Meta, formerly known as Facebook, a judge ruled.
After dismissing the lawsuit last year, District of Columbia Judge James Boasberg said the FTC’s revised complaint was “far more robust and detailed than before”.
As a result, Boasberg denied Meta’s motion to dismiss and allowed the case to proceed, although he stated that the FTC “may well face a tall task down the road in proving its allegations”.
The FTC alleges that Meta holds an unlawful monopoly in personal social networking services and maintained it by acquiring the competitors Instagram and WhatsApp.
Boasberg's ruling said the FTC has now "alleged enough facts to plausibly establish that Facebook exercises monopoly power in the market for [personal social networking] services" along with adequately alleging the company's dominant market share is "protected by barriers to entry into that market".
The FTC suit against Meta is one of several US government efforts to curtail the monopoly power of major tech companies, including a Department of Justice lawsuit against Google.
In response to the ruling, Meta said: “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.
“We’re confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today. They have been good for competition, and good for the people and businesses that choose to use our products.”