DOJ Files to Argue on Behalf of New York in Facebook Case

DOJ requested permission to participate in oral argument in support of 48 state attorneys general leading an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook (see 2203150046). The AGs, led by New York AG Letitia James (D), agreed to grant DOJ 10 minutes of their 25 minutes allotted for argument Sept. 19, said the filing Tuesday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in docket 21-7078. DOJ noted Facebook parent Meta hasn’t taken a position on the motion and won’t file a response. The U.S. has a “significant interest” in the application of antitrust law, and the district court’s order dismissing the states’ antitrust claims raises “significant and unjustified barriers” to Sherman Act Section 2 enforcement by “incorrectly analyzing anticompetitive conditions to ongoing deals under the more onerous standards reserved for unconditional, unilateral refusals to deal,” DOJ said.