It seems that the great Facebook split is not over. At least, not yet.The Federal Trade Commission claimed in a lawsuit in December that Facebook was a monopoly. It deserved to be dismantled into its individual parts, Instagram and WhatsApp. A federal court dismissed Monday the complaint that was supported by 48 attorneys general.Monday's court decision is based on the argument that FTC did not prove its case.The decision states that "The FTC failed to plead sufficient facts to plausibly establish the necessary element of all its Section 2 claims, namely that Facebook has monopoly in the market for Personal Social Networking Services (PSN Services)",Facebook is now exonerated of the FTC's charge that it illegally maintained its social networking monopoly for years through anticompetitive conduct. Monday's ruling allows Facebook to get out of the way.Sarah Miller, executive director of American Economic Liberties Project (a non-profit anti-monopoly lobbying organization), argued that the FTC should and the attorneys general should step up their respective game in light of Monday’s decision.In a statement to press, she stated that the coalition of state attorneys general should appeal today’s decision and that the Federal Trade Commission should submit an amended complaint as soon as possible.We reached out to Facebook to get comment on Monday's decision. The company responded that it was delighted with the news."We are happy that today's decisions recognize defects in the government complaints against Facebook," said a Facebook spokesperson in prepared statements.SEE ALSO: How can you check if hackers have access to your Facebook dataFacebook is happy about this. Facebook, despite a substantial fine that is ultimately negligible, has a long history in avoiding any real consequences for any of its many mistakes, accidental or not.Facebook's win streak continues and Facebook loses one every Monday, but all hope is not lost.Not the entire case, but the specific complaint was dismissed by the court. The FTC is free to re-ply its case. It is hoped that it will do so and be better prepared next time.
