A federal court on Tuesday ruled the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook can proceed, giving the government a major victory as it tries to break up the company for monopolistic behavior.
The decision marks a significant setback for the social media giant, which is accused of abusing its power in the social media market.
“The FTC has now alleged enough facts to plausibly establish that Facebook exercises monopoly power,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in the complaint’s approval on Tuesday.
The same Washington, D.C., federal court had dismissed the FTC’s complaint against Facebook last year, saying the agency was too vague in its complaint and didn’t do enough to support its assertion the social media platform had behaved anti-competitively.
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In its second complaint, Boasberg said the FTC had been “far more robust and detailed than before.”
He wrote the agency had adequately alleged Facebook’s dominant market share is protected by barriers to entry into the market and that the company has willfully maintained its monopoly power by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp.
Facebook said it is confident it has not behaved monopolistically, especially in regards to its past acquisitions.
The court’s decision Tuesday “acknowledges that the agency faces a ‘tall task’ proving its case regarding two acquisitions it cleared years ago,” a Facebook spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “We’re confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today.”
