(Reuters) - Twenty-three states including New York and California on Monday said they support the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's bid to stop Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc from buying virtual reality content maker Within Unlimited Inc, saying the deal would reduce industry competition and harm consumers.
The states filed their friend-of-the-court brief in San Jose, California, federal court, where the FTC in July asked a federal judge to bar Meta's acquisition of Los Angeles-based Within. Facebook last year agreed to buy private company Within, developer of the popular virtual-reality based fitness app Supernatural.
"Meta's acquisition of Within may substantially lessen competition and tend to create a monopoly by eliminating both perceived and actual potential competition," the states said in their amicus brief, which was pending a court's submission approval on Tuesday. The states, joined by the District of Columbia and Guam, said the deal threatens to "harm competition in the emerging virtual reality space."
A Meta spokesperson on Tuesday called the FTC's antitrust complaint "ill-conceived" and said the amicus brief from the states "does nothing to change the fact that there is vibrant competition in the VR space."
Meta has opposed the amicus submission as untimely, but the states' attorneys said there was no established deadline for friend-of-court filings.
The New York Attorney General's Office did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment, and neither did a spokesperson for the FTC.
Meta has denied the FTC's allegations and urged U.S. District Judge Edward Davila to deny the agency's bid for a preliminary injunction and to dismiss the complaint.
New York is leading a separate antitrust lawsuit against Meta over its purchase of Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, and its purchase of WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.
Lawyers for New York in September asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to revive the states' claims after a U.S. district court judge dismissed the case.
Utah, which also signed the amicus brief, is leading a group of states in an antitrust lawsuit challenging how Google runs its app store.
Google has denied the states' claims, saying that Google Play provides openness and choice that other platforms simply don't."
The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:22-cv-04325.
For Federal Trade Commission: Abby Dennis of the FTC
For Meta: Eric Hochstadt of Weil, Gotshal & Manges; and Mark Hansen of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick