(Washington) Meta, parent company of the social networks Facebook and Instagram, asked a federal judge on Friday to put an end to the proceedings launched by the American competition authority against the group and which could force the latter to sell Instagram and WhatsApp.
The lawsuits, launched in December 2020 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), concern Meta’s acquisitions of this social network and instant messaging. According to the authority, these purchases aimed to end competition in the social media market.
In its request filed before the judge in order to avoid a trial, Meta assures that these two acquisitions were “positive for consumers and businesses” and emphasizes that they had been validated by the FTC when they were made.
“The FTC studied both operations several years ago and authorized them. The decision to reopen these files amounts to saying that no acquisition will ever be final,” defended the group in a press release.
Meta also points out that the definition of the social media market does not take TikTok and YouTube into account, “thus putting aside certain characteristics that are particularly popular with Facebook and Instagram users”.
The central element in the FTC’s initiation of the lawsuits is that Meta achieved “monopoly power” by getting its hands on these potentially competing platforms.
But the case suffered a first setback in June 2021 when a judge rejected the initial prosecution. The FTC, however, opened a new, amended file in August 2021, which Meta was, this time, unable to close.
The FTC has until May 30 to file its counterargument before the judge. No hearing date has yet been announced.
If the FTC wins this case, the consequences on the digital landscape could be major, particularly for social networks in the event of Meta’s dismantling.
The FTC and the Justice Department, which share powers to combat anticompetitive practices, have launched a series of lawsuits against U.S. tech giants in recent years, such as one targeting Google and its dominance of the engine market. research, on which a judge must rule at the end of the year.