(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Tuesday declined to dismiss the government Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, saying the FTC were built with a plausible case that should be permitted to proceed.
Facebook, now Meta Platforms, had asked Judge James Boasberg in Washington D.C. federal court to dismiss the lawsuit where the government asked a legal court to demand that Facebook sell Instagram and WhatsApp.
The FTC’s high-profile legal fight with Facebook represents one of the biggest challenges the federal government has taken against a tech company in decades and is being monitored as Washington aims to tackle Big Tech’s extensive market power.
“Ultimately, if the FTC can prove its case and prevail at summary judgment and trial is anyone’s guess. The Court declines to take part in such speculation and simply concludes that at this motion-to-dismiss stage, where the FTC’s allegations are treated as true, the agency has stated a plausible claim for relief,” Judge Boasberg wrote.
The FTC originally sued Facebook throughout the Trump administration, and its complaint was rejected by the court. The company filed an amended complaint in August, adding more detail around the accusation the social networking company crushed or bought rivals and once again asking the court to force the organization to sell photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp.
In his ruling denying dismissal, the judge, however, said that the FTC could not press allegations that Facebook refused to permit interoperability permissions with competing apps in an effort to maintain its dominance, saying the policies have been abandoned in 2022 and Facebook’s most recent enforcement from the policy was even older.
Meta said it was confident the organization would prevail in court.
“Today’s decision narrows the scope of the FTC’s case by rejecting claims about our platform policies. It also acknowledges the agency faces a ‘tall task’ proving its case regarding two acquisitions it cleared years back,” a spokesperson said within an email statement.
