Facebook has formally asked a federal judge to toss out a U.S antitrust case against the social media giant, claiming the government is unfairly trying to reverse acquisitions it won regulatory approval for years ago.
In a court filing in Washington, the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company said the Federal Trade Commission lawsuit dismisses the fact the agency already approved its high-profile acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014.
This is Facebook’s first formal response to the FTC lawsuit, marking the beginning of its fight against calls for it to be broken up into smaller companies.
“The FTC wants a do-over,” said Facebook in the filing. “It just ignores its own decisions, failing to offer any valid explanation for its about-face.”
The antitrust lawsuits are also dismissive of the growing competition from rival social media giants such as TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat, Facebook said.
The FTC and a group of US states claim Facebook’s ownership of WhatsApp and Instagram violated antitrust laws as it was part of Facebook’s wider intention to quash competition and assert its monopoly power in the market.
“We are confident in our case, which is why almost every state in this nation has joined our bipartisan lawsuit to end Facebook’s illegal conduct. We will continue to stand up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook’s unlawful behaviour,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
Facebook’s scrutiny in the federal court is hot on the heels of similar lawsuits filed against Apple and Google.
