Meta Platforms Inc. claimed victory in a landmark antitrust battle with the Federal Trade Commission today after a federal judge ruled the company hadn’t monopolized the social media market when it acquired WhatsApp and Instagram.
Seven months after the trial began, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said the FTC had failed to prove Meta had unfairly built a monopoly in the social media market. “Whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past, though, the agency must show that it continues to hold such power now,” Boasberg explained in the filing. “The Court’s verdict today determines that the FTC has not done so. A judgment so stating shall issue this day.”
The lawsuit was first launched five years ago when the Commission claimed that then-Facebook Inc.’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram and the 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp harmed competition and left consumers with few choices for personal social networking. Prior to the acquisitions, Meta’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg was said to have identified Instagram as an “existential threat to Facebook’s monopoly power.” His company was accused of adopting a “buy or bury” strategy.
Boasberg invoked the popularity of TikTok as evidence that Meta hadn’t cornered the social media market. He added that the FTC had also failed to take YouTube into account. “With apps surging and receding, chasing one craze and moving on from others, and adding new features with each passing year, the FTC has understandably struggled to fix the boundaries of Meta’s product market,” Boasberg wrote. “Even so, it continues to insist that Meta competes with the same old rivals it has for the last decade, that the company holds a monopoly among that small set, and that it maintained that monopoly through anticompetitive acquisitions.”
Joe Simonson, the FTC’s director of public affairs, said he was “deeply disappointed” in the decision, writing that the “deck was always stacked against” with Boasberg, citing the current impeachment case the judge is embroiled in.
“The Court’s decision today recognizes that Meta faces fierce competition,” Meta spokesperson Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. “Our products are beneficial for people and businesses and exemplify American innovation and economic growth. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration and to invest in America.”
Photo: Unsplash
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About News Media
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, News Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
