"The landscape that existed only five years ago when the Federal Trade Commission brought this antitrust suit has changed markedly," said Judge Boasberg."
"While it once might have made sense to partition apps into separate markets of social networking and social media, that wall has since broken down."
"Whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past, though, the agency must show that it continues to hold such power now. The Court's verdict today determines that the FTC has not done so," said Boasberg."
""It's better to buy than compete.""
A federal judge ruled in favor of Meta in a major antitrust case, concluding the FTC failed to prove Meta currently holds monopoly power. The FTC alleged Meta systematically acquired competitive threats, including Instagram and WhatsApp, to neutralize rivals and potentially force divestitures. The court found that market distinctions between social networking and social media have eroded over five years, undermining the agency's case. Mark Zuckerberg previously described acquisition strategy as "It's better to buy than compete," though he later downplayed that rationale for Instagram's 2012 purchase. Facebook paid about $1 billion and offered stock options for Instagram and allowed it to remain an independent app.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]