The antitrust cases filed against Facebook by the federal government along with several states are far from over as the required standards of proof are very formidable.
When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and over 40 states announced they filed a lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly suppressing completion and demanded that the breaking apart of the social network giant, legislators, and public interest group commended them. What they failed to mention, however, is that the antitrust lawsuit they filed faces an uphill battle as the standards of proof required in such cases are very formidable.
For one, the allegations in the complaint stating that Facebook effectively killed competition when it bought Instagram and WhatsApp are very hard to prove. Despite the glaring truth that the antitrust cases filed against Facebook face an uphill climb and are not anywhere near a slam-dunk due to the requirement of the law that in such cases the standards of proof must be formidable, some lawmakers did not miss the opportunity to say their piece on the matter. For Senator Richard Blumenthal (D- Conn.), the social network giant's abusive practices against its consumers, competitors, and innovation must stop.
For Senator Josh Hawley (R) of Missouri, the lawsuits filed against Facebook are a necessity. He also said that the social network giant's acquisition of promising rivals "is anti-competitive and should be broken up." Legislators and consumer advocates, however, did not mention anything about the hard-to-ignore factor that the antitrust cases filed against Facebook face an uphill climb due to the legal requirement of formidable standards of proof in such lawsuits.
The law enforcement action filed today exposes Facebook's illegal conduct and should ultimately restore competition in social networking for the benefit of millions of users in Texas and the United States as well as businesses that advertise on #Facebook.https://t.co/X1gJcugaKn — Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) December 9, 2020
Legal luminaries agree to the complexity of antitrust laws, which were already in place before the arrival of modern technology. Due to the limitations and formidable standards of proof required by the law, the FTC and dozens of state attorneys general now face an uphill climb to prove their allegations in the antitrust case filed against Facebook. At the outset, prosecutors must show proof that Facebook acquired rivals like Instagram and WhatsApp with the precise objective of killing off their competition. They also must argue from a theoretical position that the social media market and its consumers are better off had the mergers did not occur.
To make matters worse, the regulators themselves reviewed these acquisitions by Facebook but did not attempt to stop them. On this point, they need to explain why they are changing their minds now and filing an antitrust case against Facebook. This is on top of the uphill climb that the regulators face due to the legal requirement that such cases must have formidable standards of proof. Some legal experts also say that many courts are hesitant about breaking up mergers because such a solution may cause more harm than good.
