States Appeal to Drop Facebook Antitrust Case


WASHINGTON — Nearly four dozen states on Friday asked a federal appeals court to reconsider an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook that a judge dismissed last year.

In June, Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said states have taken too long to file their cases for some of the deals under review.

The plaintiffs, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and which includes the District of Columbia and Guam, argued in their appeals that states have more latitude than private plaintiffs when litigating. They also argued that it was in the public interest for attorneys general to pursue antitrust complaints against Facebook’s parent company Meta.

The states’ main argument is that Facebook looted over its rivals—notably Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014—to crush the competition. They also claim that Facebook is hurting competitors like Vine by preventing them from accessing data and tools on its platform. Governments claim that this hurts consumers who are deprived of more competition and alternative services on social networks.

“The social media giant has repeatedly used its market dominance to put small companies out of business and reduce competition for millions of users,” said Ms. James. “We’re making this application with the support of almost every government in the country because even when facing a giant like Facebook, we will always fight to stifle competition, curb innovation and cut privacy protections.”

“We believe the district court’s decision dismissing the states’ complaint is correct and there is no reason to overturn that decision,” said Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro.

Legal pressure against Meta has intensified in recent days. The states’ appeal came days after Mr Boasberg allowed a revised version of a similar antitrust case To continue by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC argued that the company used a “buy or bury” strategy when purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp to establish a monopoly on social networks.

Mr Boasberg was initially skeptical of both cases, but for different reasons. He said federal regulators did not provide enough evidence to support some of his core claims, such as Facebook has a monopoly. This week, he said, regulators cleared that bar with a revised suit.



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