WASHINGTON—Today, Meta filed a motion at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, pushing back against the Federal Trade Commission for its lack of evidence in its case against the company. NetChoice applauds this effort from Meta to halt the FTC’s ideological crusade that lacks the necessary facts or evidence required for U.S. antitrust lawsuits.
In its new motion for summary judgment, Meta explains why the FTC has not presented the necessary facts required for an anticompetitive claim against the company. This is not shocking, considering that this FTC has been using antitrust as a weapon to be wielded against U.S. businesses consumers love but regulators personally dislike, with claims relying on little evidence and ideological assertions.
“In America, cases are driven by facts, not by assertions and personal or political preferences. But under Chair Khan’s FTC, antitrust regulators ignore the evidence and the law to target politically disfavored companies while forcing taxpayers to foot their pricey legal bills. We’re glad to see Meta standing up for vibrant competition, and we hope the court will grant Meta’s motion,” said Carl Szabo, NetChoice Vice President & General Counsel.
Szabo continued: “For innovation and competition to be able to thrive, businesses must have confidence that they will be treated fairly by regulators that act in good faith to uphold the law and protect consumers. However, many recent actions from this FTC and other agencies show that some regulators do not have an interest in playing fair, but rather think they can use our taxpayer resources to craft their personal preferences in the market. Actions like the FTC’s case against Meta don’t benefit competition or consumers.”
For background, in 2020, the FTC filed a lawsuit against Meta, claiming that the company was acting in an anti-competitive nature when it acquired WhatsApp and Instagram. A court rightfully threw out those claims in June 2021, but it was refiled with an amended complaint shortly after progressive ideologue Lina Khan took the Chair at the FTC in August 2021. This motion is the next step in the case.
U.S. businesses, especially in the tech industry, are world leaders in innovation, research and development and customer focus. But with progressive regulators like Chair Khan in charge, antitrust action is being used to punish companies for their success instead of investigating tangible occurrences of consumers being harmed. This change in focus not only hurts industry, but it undermines consumer power in the marketplace. It is good to see Meta standing up against such actions.
You can find Meta’s motion filed today here.
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