Facebook’s request to dismiss FTC antitrust lawsuit gets turned down

A U.S. judge has refused to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook.

The judge, James Boasberg, said the FTC had a plausible case that should be allowed to proceed.

The Federal Trade Commission had asked the government to make Facebook, now Meta Platforms, sell Instagram and WhatsApp.

Facebook had asked the Washington, D.C. federal court to dismiss the lawsuit.

The FTC originally sued Facebook during the former Trump administration, and its complaint was rejected by the court.

The agency filed an amended complaint in August, adding more detail on the accusation the social media company crushed or bought rivals and once again asking a judge to force the company to sell photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp.

On the flip side, the judge, did say that the FTC could not press allegations that Facebook refused to allow interoperability permissions with competing apps as a way to maintain its dominance.

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