Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals court has affirmed a dismissal of New York’s antitrust suit against Meta’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“The D.C. Circuit’s decision today clearly underscores why we need legislative fixes to overturn decades of bad caselaw,” said Katherine Van Dyck, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Meta’s reckless monopolization of social media using a “buy, don’t compete” mantra has stifled innovation, limited consumer choice, and created serious privacy and data protection concerns that will be felt for years to come. Its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp never should have been allowed, and the consequences of those deals have only exacerbated the harms of its dominance. We are confident that the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Meta, which has the benefit of discovery into Meta’s anticompetitive practices, will show that the D.C. Circuit is wrong about the harms they have wrought on the digital marketplace.”

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.