: Appeals court says AGs waited too long to challenge Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram, WhatsApp

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a decision to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit filed by the state attorney’s general of New York and other states challenging Meta Platforms Inc.’s META acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp years earlier. “The states were on notice of Facebook’s two major acquisitions. Both were publicized,” a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit wrote Thursday. We “agree with the district court that the States unduly delayed in bringing suit.” A Meta spokesperson issued an email statement that said: “As the Court of Appeals rightly recognized, this case fundamentally mischaracterized the vibrant competitive ecosystem in which we operate. In affirming the dismissal of this case, the court noted that this enforcement action was ‘odd’ because we compete in an industry that is experiencing ‘rapid growth and innovation with no end in sight.’ Moving forward, Meta will defend itself vigorously against the [Federal Trade Commission’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.”

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