The Meta vs FTC showdown over Big Tech Monopoly in social networking is quite a long and grueling legal battle that kicked off on 8th December 2020. Part of the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. The Department of Justice’s ongoing lawsuits against Big Tech, started with the U.S. accusing Meta (back when it was just Facebook) of establishing a monopoly-level dominance in social networking. The FTC highlighted the aggressive acquisition of Instagram (2012) and Whatsapp (2014) as prime examples of anti-competitive behavior.
A Roadblock to the Lawsuit
Fast forward to June of 2021, in its motion against the FTC’s complaints, Meta challenged their definition of the relevant market as “Personal Social Networking Services”, which included only Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and MeWe.
Meta argued that the FTC’s decision to exclude significant platforms like TikTok and YouTube, which the FTC claimed had primarily facilitated passive media consumption rather than personal interaction. If these platforms were considered, Meta argued that the company would not claim the implied threshold of 60% of the market share FTC states they do.
In a pivotal moment, the DC District Court Judge James Boasberg dismissed the initial complaint made by FTC citing a lack of evidence to back up their claims. However, this was not the end, FTC was given time to come up with a more fleshed-out complaint.
Amended Complaint and Proceeding
The FTC refiled its complaint in August 2021, in the amended complaint, they added to the complaint by outlining Meta’s policy of conditional access for third-party developers, stating that it allowed access to its data and platforms only if the developers refrained from building or supporting competitive services. Internal communications between Meta executives regarding the acquisition of Instagram and Whatsapp were also revealed, which revealed Meta’s strategy to “buy or bury” competitive threats. The FTC also provided details on how by blocking potential competitors, Meta was able to reduce options for consumers in terms of privacy and service features. Without this monopoly, the FTC argued consumers and advertisers would benefit from more competitive options and innovation in social networking services.
Finding this amended complaint sufficiently plausible, Judge Boasberg allowed it to proceed although he acknowledged that FTC would find it challenging to prove these allegations.
A Plea for Dismissal
After extensive discovery, Meta has filed for a summary judgment, a last effort to ask the court to dismiss the case before it goes to trial. Meta has gone on to argue that even now the FTC’s claims have lacked a clear definition for the relevant market and alleged harm that the market or the consumers face from its past acquisitions. Although the FTC had till May of this year to respond to Meta’s summary judgment motion, as of November the judgment is still under consideration and the case is yet to go to trial.
