Meta’s subdivision Facebook is in for some legal trouble with the FTC over allegations of the social network abusing its dominant position in the market to create what is essentially a monopoly. While the FTC originally filed a lawsuit against the company back at the end of 2020, a judge ruled that it didn’t offer sufficient allegations, forcing the commission to go back to the drawing board. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FTC’s revised antitrust case has now been cleared by a federal judge and can move forward in court.

The FTC’s allegations remain the same, though its new complaint is more detailed and offers longer explanations of the problems it sees. The core issue the FTC takes with Facebook is that it allegedly sought to suppress its competitors by buying them up before they could become a vital threat to the social network, specifically pointing at Instagram and WhatsApp. The commission would like to see Facebook undo those deals, essentially spinning off the two platforms into completely separate entities again.

However, not all parts of the antitrust case can move forward. The judge ruled that the FTC can’t pursue the company for allegedly using strong-arm tactics to weaken competitors, for example by preventing third-party developers from accessing Facebook using APIs.

A Meta spokesperson told the WSJ,

We’re confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today. They have been good for competition, and good for the people and businesses that choose to use our products.

Given how slowly these things move, we could be looking at Meta and the FTC spending years in court, with results completely in the open.