Guardian: 'Lawsuit aiming to break up Facebook group Meta can go ahead, US court rules
Federal Trade Commission wants to force sale of Instagram and WhatsApp'
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/12/lawsuit-aiming-to-break-up-facebook-group-meta-can-go-ahead-us-court-rules
>The US competition watchdog can proceed with a breakup lawsuit against Facebook’s owner, a federal judge has ruled.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, had asked a court to dismiss an antitrust complaint brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the second time. However, Judge James Boasberg said on Tuesday that the FTC’s revised lawsuit should be allowed to proceed.
“Ultimately, whether the FTC will be able to prove its case and prevail at summary judgment and trial is anyone’s guess. The court declines to engage in such speculation and simply concludes that at this motion-to-dismiss stage, where the FTC’s allegations are treated as true, the agency has stated a plausible claim for relief,” wrote Boasberg, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The FTC, under the new chair, Lina Khan, wants to force Meta to sell its photo-sharing app Instagram and its messaging service WhatsApp in one of the biggest challenges the government has brought against a tech company in decades. Its lawsuit accuses Meta of pursuing a “course of anti-competitive conduct”.<
There's some more text at the link but thankfully no photos of Zuckerberg.
