The United States government is continuing its crackdown on big tech firms, with the latest coming into focus being Meta (formerly Facebook).

This as federal judge James Boasberg, who previously dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) claims in an antitrust lawsuit, has now given the entity the go ahead after newly articulated complaints were laid forward.

The initial complaint, which was filed last year, was dismissed by Boasberg as it lacked the necessary arguments in order to proceed with the lawsuit. That is no longer the case, however, with the new complaint being, “far more robust and detailed than before,” according to Boasberg.

The lawsuit aims to showcase how Meta has a monopoly in the personal social networking space, thanks to the fact that the company owns Facebook and its associated services, as well as Instagram and WhatsApp, all of which are popular platforms worldwide.

“In stark contrast with its predecessor, this complaint provides reinforcing, specific allegations that all point toward the same conclusion: Facebook has maintained a dominant market share during the relevant time period,” Boasberg’s opinion statement added.

With one company owning that kind of leverage in the tech space, the FTC believes Meta holds too much power in the market, which is tantamount to antitrust behaviour.

“Facebook’s market share comfortably exceeds the levels that courts ordinarily find sufficient to establish monopoly power,” the opinion statement continued.

We tend to agree with the above elements, but as Meta’s spokespeople have explained, the FTC did clear the acquisitions of both Instagram and WhatsApp many years ago.

As such, it looks like Meta will be building its case on the fact that the FTC had previously given its approval for the company to add other large platforms to its lineup, so to take umbrage with it now is unjustified.

“Today’s decision narrows the scope of the FTC’s case by rejecting claims about our platform policies. It also acknowledges that the agency faces a ‘tall task’ proving its case regarding two acquisitions it cleared years ago,” said Meta in a statement sent to The Verge.

“We’re confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today. They have been good for competition, and good for the people and businesses that choose to use our products,” it added.

With other big tech firms in the sights of the US government, it will be interesting to see what the outcome of this lawsuit will be and whether Meta would have to be broken up, as many are calling for.

There could also simply be a hefty fine on the way, which Meta would easily be able to pay, but that does little to alter the status quo.

Either 2022 could be a big year for big tech.

[Image – Photo by Dima Solomin on Unsplash]