Meta Seeks Secret Information From Rivals, Over 100 Firms Subpoenaed in FTC Lawsuit

Meta reportedly subpoenaed 132 companies for documents related to their operation, and may approach 100 more firms for information in a 2020 US FTC case.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 14 September 2022 16:23 IST

Meta Seeks Secret Information From Rivals, Over 100 Firms Subpoenaed in FTC Lawsuit

Photo Credit: Reuters

Meta's rivals like Snap and TikTok have opposed the company's subpoenas

Highlights

Meta has been accused of monopolising the social media market
The US FTC's case against Meta could go to trial in 2024
Meta may seen secret information from over 200 companies in total

Meta has asked for secret details from several social media firms, including some of its rivals like Snap, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Clubhouse, according to a report. The firm is facing a 2020 US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit alleging that it monopolised the social media market. The firms have accused Meta of relying on the lawsuit to gain access to secret information about their services. The company could reportedly approach over 200 firms in total to provide information for litigation in the FTC's lawsuit, which is expected to go to trial in 2024.

According to a Bloomberg report, Facebook parent Meta has subpoenaed 132 companies for secret documents, due to its the 2020 US FTC lawsuit that alleges its acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram allowed it to monopolise the social media market. Meta has reportedly stated that it could approach 100 other firms for information.

The attempt to subpoena information from companies like Clubhouse, a social audio app, and Instagram rival TikTok, appears to be one of the ways Meta wants to illustrate the entry of new players in the US market, according to the report.

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TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent months, and competes with Instagram and other short video services in the US. Meanwhile, several other companies have added Clubhouse's social audio features to their services, such as Twitter's Spaces feature.

Citing court filings, the report states that Meta is looking for documents related to sensitive details of how the firm's competition acquires users, scales their products, and monetise various features.

A federal judge in California was expected to decide how much information Meta's rival Snap was required to provide in the case, as per the report, which states that the company has opposed the request to hand over data that goes back to the formation of the company.

According to the report, several other companies have also been asked to turn over secret information, including social media, communication service providers, and software firms like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snap, TikTok, Match, Twitter, Reddit, and Oracle. The list reportedly includes foreign firms like Line, Naver, and Rakuten.

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Further reading: Meta, Facebook, US FTC, FTC, Regulation

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More