FTC Blocks Meta VR Project, Calls Zuckerberg for Questioning

The CEO of Meta Platforms Inc. Mark Zuckerberg will appear in court as part of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint that seeks to have the proposed acquisition of VR content producer Within Unlimited by the firm halted, Reuters reported.

In a legal filing made with U.S. Zuckerberg, Within CEO Chris Milk, and Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth are among the 18 witnesses the FTC has named for cross-examination in District Court Northern District of California on Friday.

Defendants Meta and Within also listed them on a list of witnesses they provided on Friday.

According to the court filing, Zuckerberg will be interrogated about the Facebook parent company’s strategy for its VR business as well as its intentions to encourage third-party developers. He will also likely be asked about the Within acquisition.

The acquisition of Within by Meta would “tend to create a monopoly” in the market for VR-specific fitness applications, according to a lawsuit the FTC filed in July.

According to the regulator, the proposed acquisition would significantly reduce competition or have a tendency to monopolize that sector.

According to court filings, Meta claims that the FTC’s conclusory, hypothetical, and conflicting charges do not credibly plead any facts to prove that any alleged market for VR Deliberate Fitness applications is “oligopolistic” in terms of either conduct or structure.

In October 2021, Facebook agreed to purchase Within for an unknown fee.

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