Facebook’s parent company, Meta, asked a federal judge to toss the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against it.
Meta claimed that the FTC failed to prove during the trial that the company violated antitrust laws and that acquiring both Instagram and WhatsApp was anticompetitive. The FTC opened its case against Meta in 2020 under President Donald Trump, arguing it operated an illegal monopoly.
“With the close of the FTC’s case, the trial record establishes that Meta Platforms, Inc. (‘Meta’) acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to improve them and expand its own portfolio of services, to better compete against many dynamic, innovative, and fierce rivals. And Meta did just that,” the company wrote in a court filing.
“Meta has made two promising mobile apps with uncertain prospects into two of the most successful apps in the world, enjoyed by approximately half of the planet’s population (including hundreds of millions of U.S. consumers) on demand, in unlimited quantities, all for free,” it continued.
The FTC has argued that Meta, then known as Facebook, engaged in anticompetitive practices when it bought Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014, respectively, because it thought the apps would become rivals. The FTC is calling for Meta to undo the now decade-old sales.
After five weeks of trial, Meta said the FTC failed to show the company has a monopoly over personal social networking. It highlights that the apps are still free for download and says there has been no decline in user experience after the acquisition.
FTC BEGINS HISTORIC ANTITRUST TRIAL AGAINST META
If District Judge James Boasberg does not grant Meta’s request, the FTC and Meta will file their final briefs and deliver closing arguments. Meta is set to make its argument beginning next week.
If the judge rules that Meta ran a monopoly, the case would then go to a second trial to determine what measures can be taken to address it.
