Facebook Seeks Old FTC Documents From US Courts

Facebook is fighting a lawsuit against the FTC and wants the material as part of that fight.

Facebook has requested a US court for eight documents presented by the US Federal Trade Commission to review the company’s purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp, which the agency acknowledged.

Meta has requested a US court for eight documents presented by the US Federal Trade Commission to review the company’s purchase of Instagram also WhatsApp, which the agency acknowledged.

The request, filed late Tuesday, follows a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission asking the court to cancel both deals. Facebook bought Instagram for US$1 billion (nearly Rs.8,000) in 2012 also WhatsApp for US$19 billion (nearly Rs.1.5 billion) in 2014. The FTC sued FB for meta in 2020 during the Trump administration. Accusing the company of acting illegally to maintain its social media monopoly.

Facebook is fighting the lawsuit and wants the material as part of that fight.

“Instagram and WhatsApp filings almost certainly demonstrate that the Federal Trade Commission has determined. That any acquisition is unlikely to reduce competition or harm consumers,” Facebook said in its filing.

The company claims the Federal Trade Commission provided documents to the House Judiciary Committee. While investigating tech giants including Amazon, Alphabet’s Google, and Apple. The current chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Hahn, serves on the Commission’s staff.

“Any claim of privilege is waived when the FTC decides to voluntarily share documents with members of the Judiciary Committee and House staff,” Facebook said in its filing.

The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the filing.