(Photo: META / Disclosure)
Meta-owned Facebook has asked a US court for access to eight documents prepared by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of an analysis conducted by the regulatory agency on the occasion of the acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp , which is the agency. later supported
The application was made Tuesday night and comes as part of a lawsuit filed by the FTC, which has asked the court to order the two transactions to be reversed. Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion.
The FTC sued Facebook in the US in 2020 during the administration of Donald Trump, alleging that the company acted illegally to maintain its social media monopoly. Facebook appeals the lawsuit and wants the content as part of the dispute.
“The documents from both Instagram and WhatsApp will conclusively show that the FTC has determined that each acquisition is unlikely to reduce competition or harm consumers,” Facebook said in a court filing.
The company argued that the FTC provided documents to the House Judiciary Committee to investigate tech giants, the so-called “Big Tech”, which also included Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and Apple. Among the staff on that committee was the current chairperson of the FTC, Leena Khan.
“Any claim of privilege was waived when the FTC decided to voluntarily share the documents with members and staff of the House Judiciary Committee,” Facebook said.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Facebook.
Among the requested documents are memos that the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and Economics wrote to commissioners with recommendations on the Instagram deal. META is also seeking notes made by the Personnel Secretariat regarding transactions with WhatsApp.
