Why Facebook may not be celebrating the dismissal of 2 antitrust cases


Facebook may not be celebrating a federal judge's dismissal of two anti-trust cases just yet, The New Yorker reports.
Per The New Yorker, Judge James Boasberg's ruling suggested that the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of 48 state attorneys general didn't have much weight behind their accusations that Facebook violated antitrust laws because they "failed to define the market that Facebook operates in" and waited too long to act, respectively. But Boasberg didn't imply that the matter was settled.
"The judge has given [the FTC and the states] a road map," George Hay, a Cornell University law professor, told The New Yorker after looking over the opinion. One line stands out in particular, The New Yorker reports. "The Court rejects Facebook's argument that the FTC lacks authority to seek injunctive relief against those purchases," Boasberg wrote, referring to the company's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Boasberg also suggested that while the FTC's inability to define Facebook's market is a major problem, "this defect could conceivably be overcome by re-pleading."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
All told, Matt Stoller, the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project who has authored a book on the history of monopoly power in the U.S., thinks "some parts" of Boasberg's ruling are "helpful" for the plaintiffs. "The judge ruled that the FTC claims were right," he told The New Yorker. "If I were Facebook, I wouldn't be particularly happy with this ruling." Read more at The New Yorker.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - free trade, judicial pushback, and more
By The Week US
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushback
Cartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
By The Week US
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK
-
Meta on trial: What will become of Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire?
Today's Big Question Despite the CEO's attempt to ingratiate himself with Trump, Meta is on trial, accused by the U.S. government of breaking antitrust law
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
What does an ex-executive's new memoir reveal about Meta's free speech pivot?
Today's Big Question 'Careless People' says Facebook was ready to do China censorship
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
What's Mark Zuckerberg's net worth?
In Depth The Meta magnate's products are a part of billions of lives
By David Faris
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
TikTok's fate uncertain as weekend deadline looms
Speed Read The popular app is set to be banned in the U.S. starting Sunday
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Appeals court kills FCC net neutrality rule
Speed Read A U.S. appeals court blocked Biden's effort to restore net-neutrality rules
By Peter Weber, The Week US