Facebook on Monday urged a federal court to throw out the Federal Trade Commission’s revised antitrust suit against the company — a sign the social media giant plans to play hardball during a pivotal week in Washington.
The widely-expected court filing came weeks after the FTC filed an amended complaint against Facebook accusing the company of holding a monopoly in the US since 2011. It also came on a day when Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp services were offline globally for reasons that hadn’t been determined.
The FTC suit seeks to force Facebook to restructure or sell off assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp. The regulator says owning those apps allow Facebook to unfairly squash competition.
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