Federal judge deals blow to big tech breakup hopes, rejects Facebook antitrust lawsuit

The FTC can still refile an amended complaint to keep the case going

A federal judge in the USA has dismissed antitrust lawsuits filed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and 48 states, against social media giant Facebook. The claimants sought to force the company to divest itself of WhatsApp and Instagram.

Judge James Boasberg of the US Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the FTC lawsuit was "legally insufficient," and the regulator failed to provide enough evidence that the social media firm was engaged in unlawful monopolisation.

"Although the court does not agree with all of Facebook's contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency's complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed," the judge said.

"These allegations - which do not even provide an estimated actual figure or range for Facebook's market share at any point over the past 10 years - ultimately fall short of plausibly establishing that Facebook holds market power."

The judge stated that the FTC complaint "says almost nothing concrete on the key question of how much power Facebook actually had" and that the regulator expects "the court to simply nod to the conventional wisdom that Facebook is a monopolist."

The ruling only dismissed the complaint, however, and not the entire case. The FTC has 30 days to refile an amended complaint.

Judge Boasberg also dismissed a separate complaint filed by the state attorney generals on the same subject. He said that the attorney generals had waited too long to bring the case against Facebook over its acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram.

Antitrust regulators filed the two lawsuits last year, as part of their efforts to curb the market power of tech giants.

The authorities accuse Facebook of abusing its dominant to crush competition through acquisitions of up-and-coming services, like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. They say this denies consumers the benefits of competition.

Facebook has denied the allegations, arguing that it operates in a highly competitive market. It insists that its acquisitions have actually helped companies like WhatsApp and Instagram to become market leaders.

The company also asked for the lawsuits to be dismissed.

Facebook told the Associated Press it was pleased with the decisions, which recognised the 'defects' in government complaints filed against the company.

'We compete fairly every day to earn people's time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services,' it added.

The ruling comes about a week after the House Judiciary Committee approved legislation to amend antitrust laws, giving more powers to regulators to break up big tech companies. The legislation has now been sent to the US House of Representatives.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley criticised the court's ruling on Monday as "deeply disappointing."

Representative Ken Buck of Colorado said the decision "shows that antitrust reform is urgently needed".

"Congress needs to provide additional tools and resources to our antitrust enforcers to go after big tech companies engaging in anti-competitive conduct," he added.