Meta has sought confidential details from several social media companies, including some of its rivals such as Snap, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Clubhouse. The firm is facing a 2020 US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit alleging that it monopolized the social media market. Companies have accused Meta of relying on lawsuits to obtain confidential information about their services. In total, the company may contact more than 200 companies to provide information for the FTC’s lawsuit, which is expected to go to trial in 2024.
According to Bloomberg Report, Facebook parent Meta has subpoenaed 132 companies for secret documents, stemming from a 2020 US FTC lawsuit alleging that its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram allowed it to monopolize the social media market. Meta said it could contact 100 other companies for information.
Attempts to solicit information from companies such as Clubhouse, a social audio app and Instagram rival TikTok, appear to be a way for Meta to describe the entry of new players into the US market, according to the report.
TikTok has grown in popularity in recent months and competes with Instagram and other smaller 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 seeking documents related to sensitive details of how the company’s competition acquired users, measured their products and monetized various features.
A federal judge in California is expected to decide how much information Meta’s rival Snap must provide in the case, according to reports, as the company has resisted requests to hand over data dating back to the company’s founding. .
According to the report, several other companies including social media, communication service providers and software companies like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snap, TikTok, Match, Twitter, Reddit and Oracle have been asked to hand over confidential information. The list includes foreign companies such as Line, Never and Rakuten.
