Facebook Inc. is seeking the recusal of Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan from an antitrust case that the agency brought against the social network last year. 

Facebook made the request in a petition that became public today. In the petition, the social network stated that it’s seeking the recusal because Khan (pictured) has “consistently made public statements not only accusing Facebook of conduct that merits disapproval but specifically expressing her belief that the conduct meets the elements of an antitrust offense.”

The social network giant added in the filing, “When a new Commissioner has already drawn factual and legal conclusions and deemed the target a lawbreaker, due process requires that individual to recuse herself from related matters when acting in the capacity of an FTC Commissioner.”

Facebook’s request comes about two weeks after Amazon.com Inc. filed a similar petition. Amazon asked for Khan to be recused from antitrust investigations, litigation and other proceedings focused on its business. Amazon provided an argument similar to the one made by Facebook, stating in the petition that “Chair Khan’s prior public statements create the appearance of her having prejudged facts and/or legal issues relevant to the proceeding.”

For its part, Facebook is seeking to have Khan recused from an antitrust lawsuit that the FTC brought against the social network last December. The suit charged that Facebook had breached a section of antitrust law prohibiting companies from using anticompetitive means to acquire or maintain monopoly power. The FTC argued that the social network has maintained a monopoly in the social networking market through a “years-long course of anticompetitive conduct.”

In particular, the suit pointed out the company’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. According to the FTC, Facebook bought the two platforms to prevent them from posing competition to its social network. Furthermore, officials made the case that the social network also engaged in anticompetitive behavior by restricting access to its services’ application programming interfaces.

The FTC’s suit was dismissed late last month by a federal judge. In the ruling, the judge found that the suit was “legally insufficient” because the FTC had failed to plead enough facts to support its arguments. However, the agency was given 30 days to file an amended version of the case.

The FTC must now decide whether to file a new suit. Facebook’s petition today specifically focuses on that upcoming decision. “Facebook, Inc. respectfully petitions Chair Lina M. Khan and the Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’ or ‘Commission’) to recuse Chair Khan from participating in any decisions concerning whether and how to continue the FTC’s antitrust case against the company,” the company stated in the document.

Facebook and a number of other tech giants were recently the focus of a more than yearlong investigation by the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust. The investigation found that the evaluated companies hold monopoly power in their respective markets. 

A few months after the probe’s conclusions were published, the House Judiciary voted to advance a package of antitrust bills that aim to improve competition in the digital economy. One of the bills, the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act, focuses specifically on acquisitions made by tech giants such as Facebook. The proposal would prevent companies that hold a dominant position in their markets from making acquisitions that would enhance or reinforce their monopoly power. 

Photo: New America/Flickr