"They have the resources to put into it the FTC has limited resources. "I don't see any real motivation for Facebook to try and get rid of this," he said. Hay said the likelihood of a settlement early on is low. If the case does go to full trial, it could take six to seven years to conclude, he said. Hay said many antitrust cases get tossed out at the summary judgment stage. Over the next one to two years, Cornell's Hay said he expects a period of discovery and depositions before Meta makes a motion for summary judgement.Ī summary judgment is made by a judge based on evidence collected without proceeding with a full trial. Since the states' case made the same allegations, if it should be reinstated then the FTC could also file a motion to reconsider Boasberg's recent ruling that narrowed their case, Stutz said. When Boasberg narrowed the FTC's case by eliminating the third-party developer claim, noting in the decision that Facebook "abandoned the policies in 2018," it hurt the agency's discovery ability to support its anticompetitive claims, Stutz said. After promising developers an open playing field and welcoming them in, the FTC claims the company closed off the network to firms that competed with Facebook's core functionality. In its initial lawsuit against Meta, the FTC framed Meta's anticompetitive conduct as a strategy that included not only the killer acquisitions but pulling a "bait and switch" on developers, Stutz said. George HayAntitrust expert, Cornell University We know Facebook is big, but it's less clear what they did that's unlawful to get big and to keep big. Should the case by state attorneys general be reinstated, however, it could have a direct effect on the FTC's case, said Randy Stutz, vice president of legal advocacy at the American Antitrust Institute. In its lawsuit, the FTC also alleged the company imposed anticompetitive conditions on third-party software developers designed to hamper their growth and ability to become competitors to Facebook.īut Boasberg halted the FTC's ability to proceed with the third-party argument in his January decision, cutting the FTC's case in half. Impact of the state attorneys general case "The argument, that but for the acquisitions Facebook's dominance would've come tumbling down, is a big stretch," he said. Hay said the FTC's claim will face problems in court. The FTC specifically targeted its 2012 Instagram acquisition, as well as its 2014 WhatsApp acquisition, alleging Facebook bought the companies knowing they could turn into potential rivals, describing the acquisitions as "killer acquisitions." The FTC filed a lawsuit against Facebook, now Meta, in December 2020 alleging it achieved dominance in the social media market through a "years-long course of anticompetitive conduct." If the Federal Trade Commission wins its antitrust case against Meta, it wants the company to sell Instagram andWhatsApp as a possible remedy. ![]() "We know Facebook is big, but it's less clear what they did that's unlawful to get big and to keep big." Making the case: Meta's 'killer acquisitions' "It's not an open-and-shut case," said George Hay, an antitrust law expert and professor at Cornell Law School. The FTC was allowed to refile its suit, while the state attorneys general were not.Įxperts don't believe the FTC's antitrust case is impossible but see a years-long battle between a resource-strapped federal enforcement agency and a multi-billion-dollar tech company with top-notch antitrust lawyers. District Judge James Boasberg dismissed its initial suit along with a similar suit against Meta by a group of state attorneys general last year. However, the FTC's antitrust case has been fraught with challenges. Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering antitrust bills that would also break up the company, and reforming legislation to end certain legal protections for social media firms. The FTC's lawsuit may force the company to break up and sell acquisitions like Instagram and WhatsApp. The Federal Trade Commission and lawmakers are grappling with how to curb the size and influence of Meta.
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