Meta files motion to dismiss FTC case against VR acquisition

Meta filed a motion Thursday asking a court to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit seeking to block the tech company’s acquisition of the virtual reality (VR) company Within Unlimited. 

The motion is Meta’s latest action to push back on the FTC’s lawsuit targeting Meta, the parent company of Facebook, after the agency filed a shorter version of its initial complaint last week. The lawsuit was first filed in July.

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement Thursday that the “FTC’s attempt to fix its ill-conceived complaint still ignores the facts and the law and relies on pure speculation of a hypothetical future state.” 

“There is vibrant competition in the fitness space and across VR, and our acquisition of Within will be good for people, developers, and the VR space. For these reasons, the complaint should be dismissed,” the spokesperson added. 

The lawsuit targets Meta’s proposed acquisition of Within, the company behind the fitness app Supernatural. 

The FTC’s amended complaint focuses on a narrower segment of VR fitness app market, still arguing that the deal would lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly, Reuters reported.

Meta’s challenged acquisition of Within comes as the company looks to dive further into the virtual reality space. Last year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the plans to focus on the so-called metaverse as part of the company’s rebrand under the name Meta.