The Case For Antitrust Lawsuits Dismissed Against Facebook
On Monday, a federal judge dismissed the antitrust lawsuits that were brought against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state attorneys general, dealing a notable blow to the attempts that were made by the regulators to rein the tech giants.
The U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the lawsuits were legally insufficient and didn’t provide enough evidence to prove that Facebook was a monopoly. The ruling also dismissed the complaint but not the case, which means that the FTC could re-file another complaint.
He said that these allegations which do not even provide an estimated actual figure or range for Facebook’s market share at any point over the past ten years fall short of establishing that Facebook holds the market power.
The FTC stated that it is closely reviewing the opinion and is also accessing the best option forward. The agency has 30 days to file a new complaint.
Boasberg shut the avenue for the states, however in dismissing outright their separate complaint.
In December 2020, the US Government and 48 other states, and districts had reportedly sued Facebook accusing that the tech giant of abusing its market power in social networking to crush the smaller competitors, and for seeking remedies that could thereby include a forced spinoff of the social network’s Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services.
The FTC had further alleged Facebook of being engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate its competition that included purchasing smaller-and-up-coming rivals like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
New York Attorney, General Letitia James stated while filing the suit that Facebook has used its monopoly power to crush its smaller rivals and snuff out the competition, and everything at the expense of the users.
In an email statement, Facebook said that they are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the defects in the government complaints that have been filed against Facebook. They compete fairly every day to earn people’s attention and time and shall continue to deliver great products for the people and also the businesses that use their services.
A former prosecutor and Justice Department antitrust attorney, Richard Hamilton said that while finding the FTC’s arguments insufficient, it, however, gave the agency a road map for how to bulk up its case in the next round. Whether a private entity or a government one, they still need to sufficiently plead the case, he added.
Rep. David Cicilline, D.R.I. the legislation’s lead sponsor said that as the FTC and 48 other state attorney’s generals have alleged that Facebook is a monopolist and that it has abused its monopoly power to buy or bury its competitive threats, in the coming weeks they shall work to advance this legislation to restore choice, opportunity, and innovation for the American businesses and the consumers.
It was last October when the Trump Justice Department accompanied by a dozen states brought a landmark antitrust suit against Google, accusing the company of using its power in the online search to cut out the competition.
Glenda Bozeman – Business and Services
Glenda Bozeman writes Business articles for industries that want to see their Google search rankings surge. Her articles have appeared in a number of sites. Her articles focus on enlightening with informative Services sector needs. She holds the degree of Masters in Business and Marketing. Before she started writing, she experimented with various professions: computer programming, assistant marker, and others. But her favorite job is writing that she is now doing full-time.
