FTC Antitrust Lawsuit Adds to Meta Platforms’ META Stock Woes

Today, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is struggling. A weak earnings season is hurting the value of the META stock. But some unfavorable news about the business and the Federal Trade Commission has made matters worse (FTC). There are growing concerns among authorities that the tech titan is aiming to monopolize the metaverse market, and it seems as if the FTC is going after the corporation for its recent purchase attempts.

The two corpses had run across each other before, as reported in the news today. The FTC launched a protracted legal fight against the firm over its claimed monopolization of the social media market in late 2020. An purchase undertaken by the business in 2012, when it was still known as Facebook, Inc., served as the inspiration for the lawsuit. Of course, the in question event was Facebook's acquisition of Instagram.

The FTC claimed at the time that Facebook had engaged in anticompetitive behavior to maintain its monopoly over the social media sector. The business has acquired quite a few companies in the 2010s. The FTC said last year that its "buy or bury" strategy was the consequence of this "failure to innovate" in the market, which led to these purchases.

In the meanwhile, the FTC has been fining the business more and more money for additional wrongdoings. A $5 billion punishment was imposed on the corporation in 2019. Facebook was penalized for giving users false information regarding the extent of their control over their private data. Two years later, this would blow up a huge box of worms about Facebook's misuse of personal information.

The business changed its name to Meta in late 2021 in anticipation of a new beginning. The firm is a leader for a new wave of social tech as it enters the metaverse. The news of today, however, demonstrates that it is still just rehashing previous errors.

FTC Lawsuit Charges Platforms of Monopolization in Meta

With a 6 percent decline after the company's first quarterly loss since going public, META stockholders are upset. There is more cause for concern, however, since the FTC has accused the business of anti-competitive activity once again.

Horizon Worlds, which will launch in December 2021, has become Meta Platforms' new mascot. One of the largest tech corporations has launched its first metaverse, giving a boost to its long-running hardware push. The business has sold over 15 million Quest 2 headsets, a piece of equipment required to access the Horizon Worlds metaverse.

Regulators, though, are concerned that the company's latest purchases may be going too far. In fact, since 2016, the business has acquired at least twelve pieces of technology connected to its metaverse. The FTC has just filed a new antitrust complaint against Meta.

According to John Newman, Deputy Director of Competition at the FTC, "Meta is attempting to buy its way to the top rather than competing on the merits." According to the regulator, Meta already has the best-selling gadget, the greatest virtual reality (VR) app store, seven of the industry's top developers, and several of the top-grossing applications.

However, the company's purchase of Within in October 2021 is what prompted the FTC to file a lawsuit. The software maker is well-known for its main product, Supernatural, a fitness program that blends VR and aerobic exercises with a soundtrack of top-charting pop songs. The FTC claims that Meta is improperly competing by attempting to "buy its way to the top" of the VR fitness market with this acquisition. In fact, the business already has a Beat Saber app that closely resembles Within's program in design. The FTC claims that if this deal goes through, it would hinder the market's innovative competition.