Washington-Federal Judge dismissed an antitrust lawsuit filed against Facebook by a coalition of the Federal Trade Commission and the State Attorney General on Monday, severely damaging regulators’ attempts to curb tech giants Gave.

Judge James Bosburg of the US District Court ruled on Monday that the proceedings were “legally inadequate” and did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that Facebook was a monopoly. The ruling dismisses the complaint, but does not dismiss the case. That is, the FTC can resubmit another complaint.

“These claims don’t even provide estimated actual numbers or ranges of Facebook’s market share at any point in the last decade, but ultimately plausibly prove that Facebook retains market power. It hasn’t been done yet, “he said.

The U.S. government and 48 states and districts sued Facebook in December 2020 to exploit market power in social networking to crush small competitors and force a spin-off of social networking Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services. He accused him of seeking remedies that could be included.

The FTC claimed that Facebook is working on a “systematic strategy” to eliminate competition. This includes buying small up-and-coming rivals such as Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. Taking advantage of its monopoly power, it shattered smaller rivals and drowned out competition, all at the expense of everyday users. “

Boasberg also dismissed another complaint from the state Attorney General.