Meta is seeking the dismissal of a Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit before it reaches trial. In 2020, the FTC, along with 48 states and territories, filed a lawsuit against Meta in an effort to compel the company to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, which it acquired in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
The FTC and numerous attorneys general allege that Meta (formerly known as Facebook) purchased the two platforms to suppress competition. According to the FTC, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg “realized that by acquiring and controlling Instagram, Facebook would not only eliminate the direct threat posed by Instagram, but also significantly impede another company from using photo-sharing on mobile devices to become popular as a provider of personal social networking.” The FTC further stated, “Just as with Instagram, WhatsApp posed a significant threat to Facebook’s personal social networking monopoly, which Facebook sought to acquire rather than compete against.”
Meta points out that not only did the FTC approve both…
2024-04-05 15:39:50
Link from www.engadget.com