On Wednesday the US FTC said that a federal court should allow an antitrust lawsuit it filed against Facebook to go forward as the company has “interfered with the competitive process by targeting nascent threats through exclusionary conduct.”
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, reported Reuters.
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.
Related: The FTC’s Facebook Suit: Questions and Answers
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% 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 monopolization 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.
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