Meta has emerged victorious in a major antitrust battle that threatened the future of its business and could have compelled the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Meta does not currently hold a monopoly in social networking.
The decision from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg follows a historic trial that concluded in late May. His ruling stands in sharp contrast to recent court decisions against Google, which was found to have monopolized both search and digital advertising — significant blows to an industry long accustomed to rapid, unrestricted expansion.
Boasberg wrote that the Federal Trade Commission “continues to insist that Meta competes with the same old rivals it has for the last decade,” and that it failed to prove Meta still possesses monopoly power. “Whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past,” he wrote, “the agency must show that it continues to hold such power now. The FTC has not done so.”
The FTC argued that Meta maintained dominance by following CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s 2008 philosophy that “it is better to buy than compete,” allegedly using acquisitions to neutralize rising threats. During testimony in April, Zuckerberg rejected claims that Facebook bought Instagram to crush competition, downplaying the significance of old internal emails raised by FTC lawyers.
Boasberg emphasized that the core issue was not the decade-old acquisitions — which the FTC approved — but whether Meta is a monopoly today. Prosecutors would need to show a “current or imminent legal violation” to prevail, he wrote.
The FTC also accused Facebook of imposing policies that hindered smaller competitors as the industry transitioned from desktop to mobile platforms.
Meta welcomed the ruling, saying it reflects the “fierce competition” the company faces. Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said the company’s products “exemplify American innovation” and that Meta hopes to continue collaborating with the Biden administration.
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Boasberg noted that the social media ecosystem has evolved dramatically since the FTC filed the case in 2020. Previous dismissals of the lawsuit didn’t even mention TikTok, which he now described as Meta’s most formidable rival. Citing the philosopher Heraclitus, he wrote that the online world changes too rapidly to be neatly divided into fixed categories like “social networking” and “social media.”
Industry analysts called the ruling expected, noting Meta’s aggressive efforts to counter TikTok. However, they warned the company still faces major regulatory challenges — including upcoming lawsuits over social media’s impact on children’s mental health.
Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion and WhatsApp in 2014 for $22 billion were pivotal in shifting its operations from desktop to mobile and maintaining relevance among younger users. But the FTC’s definition of Meta’s competitive landscape excludes TikTok, YouTube, and Apple’s messaging service as rivals.
Investors reacted calmly to the ruling. Meta shares slipped $1.52 to $600.49 on Tuesday afternoon, mirroring broader market trends.
Source: AP