Richard Garnett

An appeals court has dismissed a second attempt by Meta and Instagram to shut down a misuse of market power case by a Melbourne-based social media startup.

A court has shut down Facebook’s renewed push to cut off Melbourne-based content strategists Sked Social from posting on Instagram on behalf of its clients, with a judge saying the social media giant’s justification for varying the injunction order was “flimsy and possibly strategic”.

Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram have lost a bid to shut down a lawsuit brought by an Australian social media startup, with a judge finding the digital giants relinquished their right to move the dispute to California.