District Judge James Boasberg, noting that 'the FTC has now alleged enough facts to plausibly establish that Facebook exercises monopoly power in the market for services.'

'Although the agency may well face a tall task down the road in proving its allegations, the Court believes that it has now cleared the pleading bar and may proceed to discovery,' wrote U.S. In other words, that Facebook allegedly gobbles up competitors in order to maintain an illegal monopoly. This time, however, the judge found that federal regulators have offered enough proof to argue that Facebook's acquisition strategy - particularly its takeover of Instagram and WhatsApp - is driven by a 'buy or bury' ethos. The Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Facebook can proceed, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, delivering a major win for the agency after its first attempt at targeting the company's alleged monopoly power was dismissed for lack of evidence. A federal judge on Tuesday allowed an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission to proceed, coming after the agency's first complaint was dismissed.