FTC won’t appeal judge’s order greenlighting Meta acquisition of virtual reality business

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it will not appeal a federal judge’s order rejecting the regulator’s effort to stop Meta from acquiring the virtual reality platform Within Unlimited.

“We will not be appealing the decision in federal court,” FTC spokesman Peter Kaplan said in an email.

The regulator lost to Meta in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last week when Judge Edward J. Davila scrapped the FTC’s effort to kill Meta‘s acquisition. The judge also blocked Meta from completing the deal while the FTC decided whether to appeal.

Having chosen not to pursue the matter in federal court, the FTC is poised to turn its attention to its in-house case reviewing the transaction. A hearing on the case is set for Feb. 13.

The FTC’s next steps against Meta over its virtual reality business present a major test of the regulator’s efforts to crack down on Big Tech with President Biden’s appointee Lina Khan at the helm of the independent agency.

Meta petitioned the FTC for Ms. Khan to recuse herself from its case and the FTC decided earlier this month that she did not need to do so.