FTC Appeal of Meta Loss Continues Wasting Taxpayers’ Money, Says ITIF

WASHINGTON—Following the decision by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to appeal Judge Boasberg’s decision in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, holding that Meta did not engage in illegal monopolization through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Joseph V. Coniglio, director of antitrust and innovation policy:

The FTC rightly lost in court because it failed to prove that Meta had monopoly power in a contrived market definition that ignored intense competition from TikTok and YouTube. There is virtually no chance that those robust factual findings will be found clearly erroneous on appeal.

This is a very poor use of the FTC’s prosecutorial discretion to spend thousands, if not millions, more of American taxpayers’ money on a case that was always a loser—especially given that there was no determination that Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were anticompetitive in the first place.

Unfortunately, the FTC continues to demonstrate that its crusade against America’s leading technology companies has become its new raison d’être, rather than using its resources in ways that will actually protect competition and consumers.

Contact: Sydney Mack, [email protected]