WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The judge overseeing separate lawsuits against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission and a big group of states set a March deadline for the social media company to respond, according to a court filing on Wednesday.
The regulator and state attorneys general sued Facebook in December with allegations that the company broke the law to disadvantage smaller rivals.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in the District of Columbia said that Facebook had until March 10 to respond to the two complaints, and the states and FTC then had until April 7 to respond.
The judge also said that he would not immediately rule on a motion to consolidate the two cases.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Grant McCool)
