Mehta announced Friday that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has failed to prove that its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp harmed consumers in an antitrust case against the social media giant. asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
“From the outset, the FTC has not stated a plausible case and has done nothing to build a case to prove otherwise through the discovery process,” Mehta said in a press release.
“The evidence shows exactly what we said: Meta faces intense competition from a variety of platforms, from TikTok and X to YouTube and Snapchat.” “Additionally, Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, which were reviewed and approved by regulators more than a decade ago, have benefited consumers.”
The FTC charged Meta in 2020, accusing the social media giant of illegally maintaining a monopoly on personal social networking through its acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
The case was initially dismissed in 2021 after a judge ruled that the FTC failed to present sufficient evidence to support claims that Meta had monopoly power. However, authorities were able to file an amended complaint.
Mehta argued Friday that the FTC artificially limits the relevant market to just four companies in this case: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and MeWe, and excludes competitors such as TikTok, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn. .
The social media giant argued that the FTC’s claim that Meta holds a dominant market share is “meaningless” because the market is not properly defined.
“The FTC has no evidence of monopoly power because the alleged monopoly power does not exist,” Mehta said in a press release.
It also argued that its “significant investment of time and resources” in Instagram and WhatsApp have benefited consumers, making them “services that millions of users now enjoy for free.”
The Hill has reached out to the FTC for comment.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
