A federal judge in the United States has thrown out a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc, claiming that the company’s Facebook platform led to the demise of a now-defunct photo application startup, in violation of antitrust laws.
In a comprehensive 67-page ruling, US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, presiding in Brooklyn, New York, determined that Phhhoto Inc did not file its claims within the stipulated timeframes set by federal antitrust statutes and New York state competition laws, which impose time limits of four years and three years, respectively.
“Phhhoto has not provided sufficient facts within its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to mitigate the untimeliness of all its federal claims,” Judge Matsumoto remarked, adding that “no exception applies to toll the limitations periods.”
The court opted not to permit Phhhoto to revise its case and submit another complaint.
Attorneys representing Phhhoto from the law firm Hausfeld did not respond immediately to requests for comments on the ruling issued Thursday.
A Meta spokesperson characterized the lawsuit as “meritless” in an official statement.
Founded in 2014, Phhhoto offered a unique application that aimed to create five-frame looping videos. This followed Meta’s acquisition of photo-sharing platform Instagram two years earlier for $1 billion.
The lawsuit, initiated by Phhhoto in 2021, claimed that Facebook intended to “crush” the startup, referring to itself in legal documents as “an innovative nascent competitor.”
Phhhoto’s legal team alleged that Meta manipulated its dominance over essential infrastructure to undermine the quality of Phhhoto’s content and app performance, while also misleading consumers.
Facebook, however, rejected any assertions of anticompetitive behavior.
This case is part of a broader series of legal challenges against Facebook regarding allegations of breaching competition laws.
In addition to the current case, Facebook is also contesting claims from the US Federal Trade Commission in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging that the company misused its leading position in the social networking arena.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
