On Thursday, a U.S. appeals court rejected states’ antitrust complaint against Meta’s (META.O) Facebook.
Last year, dozens of states headed by New York petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to resume the case, but U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied their request, saying they had waited too long.
In 2020, the FTC and states petitioned the court to require Facebook to sell Instagram, which it acquired for $1 billion in 2012, and WhatsApp, which it bought for $19 billion in 2014. FTC lawsuit continues. The three-judge majority appeals court bench ruled “the states unduly delayed in bringing suit.”
The U.S. knew about Facebook’s two big acquisitions. “Both were publicized,” Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote.
Meta said the case “fundamentally mischaracterized” social media competition and will fight.
“Moving forward, Meta will defend itself vigorously against the FTC’s distortion of antitrust laws and attacks on an American success story that are contrary to the interests of people and businesses who value our services,” a spokeswoman stated in an email.
New York’s attorney general did not immediately reply to a request for comment.