The American competition authority will be able to sue Facebook – franceinfo

The US competition authority (FTC) can sue Facebook, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, January 11. This judge considered admissible the new complaint filed by the FTC last August, after his first case was dismissed by the same magistrate in June. The agency “had tripped in the starting blocks” on her first attempt, and she “will undoubtedly encounter obstacles to prove his accusations”, noted the judge. Corn “the facts as presented this time (…) are more solid and detailed than before”.

Decision rejects request by Meta (Facebook’s parent company) to dismiss prosecution for good “without valid evidence”, according to the Californian company. Facebook argued in particular that the president of the FTC, Lina Khan, is not neutral. But the judge replied that she did not have to be as a prosecutor.

In its complaint, the FTC argues that Mark Zuckerberg’s group has “illegally bought out or buried new innovators when their popularity became an existential threat”, with reference to the Instagram application and WhatsApp messaging. She also argues that “personal social networks are a unique and distinct type of online service”, and a market controlled over 65% by Facebook, with its main platform and Instagram – therefore a monopoly. This is one of the most threatening issues for Meta, regularly accused, like its neighbors in Silicon Valley, of having accumulated too much power, both economically, politically and socially.