Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commision refiled its antitrust suit levied at Facebook following a previous judicial dismissal.
According to The Washington Post, “the FTC argues in its new filing that Facebook is in a class of its own and shouldn’t be compared to popular apps such as TikTok, Twitter and Pinterest, which attract a public-facing audience.”
Combing over the revised filing, former Justice Department antitrust member George Hay doesn’t see any “fundamental change in the structure of the complaint,” which still advocates that its sheer size and influence dwarf any real arguments attempting to back a competitive market.
Newly appointed FTC chair Lina Khan will have her hands full attempting to make a bolstered case of essentially the same dismissed argument by US District Judge James E. Boasberg.
Especially when would-be competitors such as TikTok recently overtook Facebook in number of downloads for a quarter. Social networking advocates continue to poke holes in the FTC initial complaint and assert that the definitions politicians are attempting to set in place are still too broad.
“Never do they say social media is only Facebook. They’re complaining about all of them because they are interchangeable, because they’re competitors.”
However, this time around there are more details in the brief that further examine and explain the gulf between Facebook and its competitors as well as market share.
The FTC also gained a bit of momentum during this refiling as time has fostered greater resentment between Facebook lobbying and Washington. While a bipartisan alliance blossomed amid several self-imposed privacy violations and associated ties to political elections on behalf of Facebook, the company was arguably “stifling” competition with large business acquisitions.
Facebook is far from the sympathetic defendant in this revised antitrust claim, but at a trillion-dollar evaluation, the company has the money and time to attempt once again to ward off the FTC.
However, Facebook is not alone in its legal fight with the FTC. The implications of an FTC win would immediately put other large names in tech such as Amazon, Apple and even Microsoft under the microscope as well as set a precedent on future expansions of the companies.
As of now, Facebook has opened with a soft plea that asks for the recusal of Khan from the case, citing her previous documented positions against Facebook as bias. The petition has been roundly dismissed by the FTC.
Despite the fireworks launched by today’s news, many expect the new filing to drag out months and mostly likely years before an outcome is established, unless it gets dismissed outright again.
