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Meta antitrust trial kicks off in federal court

(www.axios.com)
431 points c420 | 2 comments | 14 Apr 25 13:18 UTC | HN request time: 3.122s | source
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paxys ◴[14 Apr 25 19:40 UTC] No.43685386[source]▶
I don't understand the FTC's strategy here. Their entire case hinges on the fact that the judge will accept that Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and MeWe (?) are direct competitors of Facebook in the "personal social networking" space while TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and all the rest aren't. Unsurprisingly that is what Meta's legal team is spending all of its efforts debating. I really can't see the judge allowing such a cherry-picked definition of what Facebook's market is.
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whatshisface ◴[14 Apr 25 20:31 UTC] No.43685979[source]▶
The definition of a trust isn't a business with no competitors. In fact, a business with no competitors is legal. Antitrust law limits "anti-competitive actions," which are possible even for commodity producers in an efficient market.
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1. instagib ◴[15 Apr 25 03:26 UTC] No.43688729[source]▶
Further advancements in litigation will likely reveal additional information.
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2. dmix ◴[15 Apr 25 03:50 UTC] No.43688821[source]▶
Usually you do that before the trial. Using that as the tactic is shady. Although this has always had the vibe of being about clamping down on big tech power not protecting upstarts. So the goals might be broader. A lever to pull through threats of more of this.