ANALYSIS: FTC’s Solid Facebook Complaint Faces a Tough Road

The Federal Trade Commission’s revised complaint against Facebook Inc., alleging that the social media giant illegally maintains a monopoly in personal social networking, should be enough to survive a motion to dismiss. If it fails to do so, that may say less about the FTC’s case than it does about the state of anti-monopoly law in the U.S. right now.

The FTC seeks to break up the corporation, which is undeniably a radical remedy. But the complaint lays out a coherent narrative that contains enough pieces to “plausibly” set out an antitrust case against the platform, bolstered by some ...