Like it or not, social media platforms have flourished like never before over the last year, giving rise to new companies and changing the entire market for good. Thus, it’s no surprise that the king of the game, Facebook, has seen numbers go up at an unprecedented rate. But how much is too much? Well, how does a trillion dollars sound? Yes, Facebook, a company that was set up just a few years ago (at least compared to the other ‘tech giants’) is now worth $1 trillion.
This comes after a US judge dismissed federal and state antitrust complaints against the company which argued that it was a monopoly. The complaint was filed with the intention of forcing Facebook to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram, but the judge decided that the complaint was legally insufficient.
Judge James Boasberg says that FTC failed to show clear evidence that Facebook is a monopoly, while adding that it can refile this complaint by July 29.
The judge wrote, “Although the court does not agree with all of Facebook’s contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency’s complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed.”
A Facebook spokesperson said: “We are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook.”
This, as one would expect, led to a massive increase in Facebook’s share price, which rose by 4% after the ruling, pushing its valuation to a little over $1 trillion.
While this is great news for Facebook, state and national agencies that have been advocating for breaking up the power of these tech giants have seen better days. This will serve as a major blow to their crusade against these corporations, with the Facebook case possibly becoming an example of how similar complaints may go down in court.
However, it’s probable that FTC will use the refiling option provided to it, and we might see this case being taken up in court once again.
Who knows how much value that might add to Facebook’s name?
