The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is set to commence legal proceedings against Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, on Monday. The FTC accuses Meta of abusing monopoly power through its past acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The trial follows a November ruling by Judge Boasberg, which narrowed the scope of the charges by denying most of Meta's Motion for Summary Judgment. However, the judge dismissed claims that Meta restricts third-party app developers from accessing its platform.
Matt Schruers, the President and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, issued a statement concerning the upcoming trial. He emphasized the importance of data and concrete evidence in merger reviews to enforce antitrust laws, stating, “While merger review is a critical tool to enforce antitrust laws, it should be rooted in data and substantial evidence of consumer harm."
Schruers also pointed to the need for the FTC to demonstrate that the acquisitions “harmed consumers and infringed antitrust law.” He expressed concerns about the FTC’s decision to revisit these transactions after a significant time has passed, noting, "The agency’s decision to revisit these transactions after a decade creates legal uncertainty, and risks chilling innovation and deterring mergers that benefit competition and consumers across an entire sector of the economy.”
The trial is set to examine whether Meta's historic acquisitions have adversely affected competition and consumers, a decade after these deals were finalized.