Federal Judge James Boasberg dismissed an anti-trust case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which accused Facebook of abusing its market dominance and engaging in anti-competitive practices.

As part of its case, the US regulator sought to break the social media giant from its sister platform, Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp.

The FTC accused Facebook of adopting a “systematic strategy” aimed at eliminating competition. However, Judge Boasberg claimed the regulator had failed to back up claims that Facebook was engaged in anti-competitive behaviour and described the allegations as “legally insufficient”.

“The FTC’s complaint says almost nothing concrete on the key question of how much power Facebook actually had, and still has, in a properly defined anti-trust product market,” he wrote.

“It is almost as if the agency expects the court to simply nod to the conventional wisdom that Facebook is a monopolist.”

Judge Boasberg also dismissed a separate lawsuit that accused the social media giant of anti-competitive behaviour.

The case, brought against Facebook by a coalition of US states and districts, was launched in 2020 and supported by the FTC.

This separate lawsuit also centred around Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram.

Lawmakers alleged that the acquisition of these smaller, up-and-coming apps formed part of the company’s strategy to stifle competition in the social media market space. As part of this separate case, the FTC also sought to spin off the platforms from Facebook.

Judge Boasberg questioned the timing of the legal challenge given that Instagram and WhatsApp were acquired in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

He argued that the case against Facebook could have been brought closer to the time of acquisition and criticised the coalition’s choice “to do nothing over the last half-decade.”

“This anti-trust action is premised on public, high-profile conduct, nearly all of which occurred over six years ago – before the launch of the Apple Watch or Alexa or Periscope, when Kevin Durant still played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and when Ebola was the virus dominating the headlines,” he wrote.

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The dismissal of the cases doesn’t mark the end of the affair for Facebook, however. The FTC has the right to re-file charges against the social media giant before a deadline set for 28th July.

Nonetheless, Facebook welcomed the decision. In a statement to the Associated Press, the social media firm said the dismissal highlighted apparent flaws in the cases brought against it.

“We are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook,” a spokesperson said.

“We compete fairly every day to earn people’s time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services,” they added.

In the wake of the ruling, Facebook’s market value surged rapidly, taking it beyond $1 trillion for the first time in its existence.

The increase means Facebook is the latest tech giant to reach the $1tn market valuation alongside Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google.