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A judge has dismissed two antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, one filed by the Federal Trade Commission and another by a coalition of U.S. states, which dealt a major blow to regulators and sent the company’s share price at record levels.
In an opinion that on Monday dismissed the FTC’s complaint, Judge James Boasberg before the Washington DC federal district court said the agency’s lawsuit was “legally insufficient.”
In particular, the judge held that the FTC “did not argue sufficient facts to establish in a plausible manner” that Facebook has the power of monopoly over the market for personal social networking services.
However, the judge said the FTC would have 30 days to file a new complaint if it so wished.
By contrast, Boasberg completely dismissed a similar case followed by a group of 46 states and two more jurisdictions – led by New York Attorney General Letitia James – on the grounds that the alleged violations occurred too long ago.
The trial is a major setback for regulators, which in December accused the company’s anti-competitive behavior, including the strategic purchase of rivals that threatened its monopoly power and the disruption of services to squeeze rival developers.
The FTC said at the time it was looking for sanctions, including the forced breakup of Facebook from Instagram and WhatsApp, acquisitions it made in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
Facebook’s stock price jumped more than 4% on the news to a high of $ 357.36, surpassing for the first time the market capitalization of $ 1 billion.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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