US Chamber, CCIA Back Facebook in State AG Antitrust Lawsuit

States waited too long to bring antitrust claims against Facebook’s already-approved acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, which initially didn’t raise competitive issues, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued Monday with industry groups before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in docket 21-7078 (see 2203150046). The chamber signed its brief in support of Facebook with the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Business Roundtable. The states seek a “wholesale” exemption from Clayton Act applications “no matter how unreasonable the delay or how prejudicial its effect,” the groups wrote. Facebook made a similar argument in its last rebuttal against states seeking actions against the deals. “By expanding the enforcement field from a reasonable time to eternity, dispensing with laches guarantees more enforcement actions concerning old conduct,” the chamber wrote. They denied claims the platform’s refusal to deal with certain rivals constituted an antitrust violation, saying Facebook never terminated a prior profitable course of dealing with the rivals in question: “Absent termination of a prior profitable course of dealing, allegations based on a refusal to deal do not state a valid antitrust claim.”