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Dozens of states led by New York asked the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia last year to reinstate the lawsuit,
which U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of
Columbia rejected, saying they had waited too long to file.
Both the Federal Trade Commission and the states had asked the
court in 2020 to order Facebook to sell Instagram, which it
bought for $1 billion in 2012, and WhatsApp, which it bought for
$19 billion in 2014. The FTC case is going forward.
The three-judge unanimous appeals court panel said it agreed
that "the states unduly delayed in bringing suit."
"The States were on notice of Facebook’s two major acquisitions.
Both were publicized," Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote,
noting that the FTC had investigated both transactions.
Meta said that the case "fundamentally mischaracterized" the
level of competition in social media and that it would continue
to fight.
"Moving forward, Meta will defend itself vigorously against the
FTC's distortion of antitrust laws and attacks on an American
success story that are contrary to the interests of people and
businesses who value our services,” a Meta spokesperson said in
an emailed statement.
The New York attorney general's office did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Mike Scarcella; Editing by Mark
Porter, Kirsten Donovan and Elaine Hardcastle)
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