Federal Judge Green Lights FTC’s ‘More Robust and Detailed’ Lawsuit Accusing Facebook of Running a ‘Monopoly’ – By Adam Klasfeld (Law and Crime) / January 11, 2022
Facebook may have succeeded in dismissing an earlier version of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accuses the social media giant of monopoly practices, but a federal judge ruled that the tide might be changing on a “more robust and detailed” complaint filed by regulators.
“Second time lucky?” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote at the start of a 48-page ruling that sends the refortified case to discovery.
In December 2020, the FTC filed a federal lawsuit to break up Facebook. The lawsuit sought a “divestiture of assets” and a “divestiture or reconstruction of businesses (including, but not limited to, Instagram and/or WhatsApp).” In a separate lawsuit, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and 47 other AGs accused Facebook of seeking #TotalDomination in purchasing Instagram and described a climate of fear of those targeted by the “wrath of Mark.”
