United States of America: Issued Court of Appeals ruling in complaint made by 46 States regarding Facebook's alleged Creation and Maintenance of a Monopoly Position (No. 1:20-cv-03589)

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Issued Court of Appeals ruling in complaint made by 46 States regarding Facebook's alleged Creation and Maintenance of a Monopoly Position (No. 1:20-cv-03589)

On 27 April 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit affirms the lower-court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit initially filed by New York and numerous other states regarding Meta's alleged creation and maintenance of a monopoly position. The initial complaint by the states aimed to undo Meta's previous acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, alleging that the company's approach of "buy-or-bury" violated antitrust laws. In 2021, a federal judge dismissed the complaint, stating that it was filed long after the acquisitions had been finalized in 2012 and 2014. The appellate decision aligned with the federal judge's ruling. The claims that Meta's policies restricting app developers were anticompetitive and constituted exclusive dealing were found to be unsubstantiated. The policies prohibited developers from duplicating Meta's core products but did not violate federal antitrust laws. At this moment, Meta still faces a pending lawsuit by the FTC regarding Meta's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
platform intermediary: user-generated content
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
judiciary
Government Body
supreme court

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2020-12-09
under deliberation

On December 9 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 46 States announced that they have sued …

2021-06-28
rejected

On 28 June 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.) dismissed t…

2021-08-19
under deliberation

On 19 August 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a renewed antitrust complaint against F…

2022-01-11
in force

The District Court of Columbia has denied Facebook's motion to dismiss the renewed Complaint submit…

2023-04-27
in force

On 27 April 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit affirms the lower-court ruling that di…