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HomeHome > Anti-monopoly

Meta must face shuttered photo app’s antitrust lawsuit, US appeals court rules

Post time：12-11 2024 Source：Reuters Author：Mike Scarcella
tags： Meta Antitrust
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Dec 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday reinstated an antitrust lawsuit against Meta Platforms (META.O) that accused the Facebook parent company of illegally driving an animated photography app out of business.
 
The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 order, opens new tab reversed a lower court judge who ruled last year that Phhhoto had filed its lawsuit outside of the four-year window for antitrust plaintiffs to sue.
 
Phhhoto’s 2021 lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court accused Meta of manipulating its technology in a way that suppressed the visibility of the app’s animated photographs on Meta’s photo and short video platform Instagram.
 
Phhhoto provided enough information for now to show Meta “concealed” the change to its Instagram algorithm, delaying Phhhoto’s discovery of it until a date that fell within the statute of limitations to sue, wrote Chief Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston, joined by Circuit Judge Richard Wesley.
 
Circuit Judge Denny Chin, however, said in a dissent that Phhhoto “had the requisite information” to sue Meta well before it filed its case.
 
"As we have said since the beginning, this suit is baseless and we will continue to vigorously defend ourselves," Meta said in a statement.
 
A lawyer for Phhhoto did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 
The 2nd Circuit decision does not address the merits of the allegations against Meta. The company has denied the allegations, saying that adjusting the way it presented content on Instagram feeds was based on user interest and other factors.
 
Phhhoto launched in 2014 and said it had reached 10 million registered users in two years. It shut down in 2017.
 
Phhhoto has alleged Meta targeted and aimed to "crush" the photo-sharing application, ultimately depriving it of "access to hundreds of millions of dollars of capital."
 
Meta faces other antitrust lawsuits filed by government and consumer plaintiffs. The company is set to go to trial in April in a U.S. Federal Trade Commission case claiming that it bought Instagram and WhatsApp to crush emerging competition. Meta has denied the allegations.
 
The case is Phhhoto Inc v. Meta Platforms Inc, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-0763.
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