Meta Withheld Information on Instagram, WhatsApp Deals: FTC

Khan came in with big plans and has consistently shit the bed on winning actual cases or making meaningful change.

Utterly wasted opportunity when there is huge public support for interventions to break up big tech power.

> they should have asked to review it back then

That's Facebook's argument: "Meta is seeking to have the case thrown out before a trial, arguing that it has invested billions in the apps and that the FTC shouldn’t be able to renege on its prior approval of the mergers."

> If they requested it but Meta didn’t provide it, then it is an issue

Yes. It seems premature to conclude from public sources who has the stronger hand.

What about if the FTC discovered information that they had no idea about existing at the point of merger, would it be OK for them to go back and reconsider the merge if that's the case, with this new information?

That's how the article reads to me at least, that the FTC wasn't aware of the documents/information even existing, so obviously they couldn't ask for it at the time (an unknown-unknown, rather than known-unknown).

Overall, I feel like the article itself is withholding information about exactly what information is now known by the FTC, so hard to judge anything here.

Found the Facebook employee or stock holder.

Literally the first paragraph says they claim Facebook withheld the information which was requested.

> what really happens from a business perspective? Does FB/Zuck still retain ownership? Or are they forced to sell?

Taking Standard Oil as an example, the entity Zuckerberg retained control over would have to sell its stakes in the others, i.e. Zuckerberg wouldn't be allowe to own or control the others [1].

[1] https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/ida-m-tarbells-crus...