Facebook shares climbed more than four per cent on Monday, following which the company’s market cap stood at $1.008 trillion. Challenges faced by Facebook. Facebook’s market cap touched the milestone after a US judge dismissed federal and state antitrust lawsuits against the social media giant. The antitrust lawsuits were filed earlier by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that Facebook has a monopoly in social media. It also put pressure on it to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The judge made it clear that the FTC lawsuit failed to meet the burden for establishing that Facebook enjoys a monopoly in the social media business. It may be noted that the rejection of the lawsuits is a big blow to state and federal authorities. The judge said: “Although the court does not agree with all of Facebook’s contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency’s complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed,” A spokesperson for the social media giant said: “We are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook.” However, the FTC is likely to file a new complaint in the matter by July end. On the other hand, Facebook welcomed the ruling. The FTC along with a group of states had filed separate lawsuits against Facebook last year and accused it of breaking antitrust law — something that limited business prospects of smaller competitors — by acquiring Instagram in 2021 and WhatsApp in 2014. The trade commission also suggested that Facebook displayed anti-competitive behaviour, adding that the company’s size has resulted in consumer hard and reduced product quality.
