A U.S. federal appeals court has sided with Meta Platforms in an antitrust case brought by state attorneys general.
The lawsuits filed by 48 states and territories, led by New York,
focused on the company's anticompetitive practices related to the
acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
- The
attorneys general waited too long and "unduly delayed" suing Meta over
the acquisitions, according to the three-judge panel from the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
- Initially filed in December
2020, the suit accused Meta of engaging in a “buy or bury” scheme to
eliminate rivals and monopolize the social networking market.
- Thursday's ruling upholds a decision from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg from June 2021.
- The Federal Trade Commission also has an almost identical lawsuit against Meta, which will also be heard by Boasberg.
- While
Boasberg dismissed the state case, saying they waited too long, the
same legal doctrine does not apply to the federal government.
