Meta under pressure: FTC lawsuit threatens to shake the Empire of Zuckerberg!

Meta under pressure: FTC lawsuit threatens to shake the Empire of Zuckerberg!

In a significant legal dispute, the US trade authority FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has today filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC accuses Meta of taking over Instagram 2012 for around $ 1 billion and in 2014 for around $ 22 billion in order to secure a dominant market position in the field of social media. According to the FTC, these steps are said to have worsened the competitive conditions in the sector considerably. The trial takes place in front of a court in Washington and could take several years, the negotiation dates are scheduled to be scheduled until the beginning of July. It is also expected that at least one of the parties will appeal, regardless of the outcome of the procedure.

Meta itself rejects the accusations of the FTC as "weak and absurd". Jennifer Newstead, the company's chief lawyer, argues that the lawsuit is based on a eiggest perspective by the market for social media. Meta refers to the competition through platforms such as Tiktok, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. While the FTC calls for reversal of the takeovers, Meta emphasizes that the acquisitions were initially approved by American competitive supervisors and Instagram is still an important sales bringer.

political context of the lawsuit

The lawsuit was originally submitted in December 2020 during Donald Trump's term. In this first procedure, judge James Boasberg had rejected the lawsuit because it did not contain sufficient evidence to underpin the monopoly. Under the direction of Joe Biden, however, the FTC recorded the process and added further figures and facts to underpin the argument. The continued existence of the procedure under the current government indicates that there is a non -partisan consensus regarding the need to restrict metas market power.

In addition, Mark Zuckerberg donated a million dollars for Trump's inauguration and the company tries to make the relationship with the US government. Critics accuse META of withdrawing from facts such as fact checks, especially after the company agreed to a financial share of $ 25 million to Trump after his accounts were blocked due to the events related to Capitol.

technological change and competitive relationships

The court has expressed doubts about the position of FTC, especially in view of the fast technological change in the field of social media. The reasoning that the quality of METAS apps has decreased in the event of weakened competition is viewed critically by experts. In addition, an investigation shows that Facebook had a market share of up to 80% on smartphones and 98% on PCs between 2016 and 2020. This raises questions about competitiveness and market conditions.

The ongoing discussion about the market power of companies like Meta is part of a wider trend in the technology industry. Matt Brittin, director of Google Europa, compares the current market situation with earlier times and talks about the challenges that create new platforms for the existing companies. The President of the Federal Cartel Office in Germany, Andreas Mundt, sees the regulation a necessary step to ensure equality in competition, which is of new importance through developments in the internet economy.

The process against Meta is therefore not only in the context of a single lawsuit, but is embedded in a more comprehensive discussion about regulation and competition law in the digital era. How the entire environment will develop remains to be seen.