Meta is attempting to get its antitrust case thrown out in the course of the trial

The FTC simply rested its case following weeks of testimony in a landmark antitrust case in opposition to Meta. However earlier than Meta can start its protection, the corporate’s legal professionals have opted for one more transfer: asking the decide to throw out the case completely.

The corporate filed on Thursday asking US District decide James Boasberg to toss out the FTC’s case, arguing that the regulator has not proved that Meta acted anticompetitively. “Meta has made two promising cellular apps with unsure prospect: two of probably the most profitable apps on the earth, loved by roughly half of the planet’s inhabitants (together with tons of of tens of millions of U.S. customers) on demand, in limitless portions, all at no cost,” the submitting says, “The FTC has not carried its burden to show that Meta ‘is at the moment violating the antitrust legal guidelines.'”

The corporate’s reasoning is much like previous arguments it is made concerning the FTC’s case. Meta has stated that Instagram and WhatsApp had been in a position to develop to one-billion-user providers due to the corporate’s investments. The corporate additionally with the FTC’s declare that there’s a lack of competitors for “private social networking providers.” (The FTC has argued that Meta’s solely opponents for social networking are Snapchat and , a small privacy-focused social app that runs on decentralized protocols.)

Up to now, the month-long trial has seen plenty of outstanding present and former Meta executives take the stand, together with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg and Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom. Their testimony has revealed concerning the internal workings of the social media firm and its ways to remain forward of potential opponents.