FTC Takes Legal Action Against Meta: A New Chapter in Antitrust?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a legal action against Meta, accusing the company of forming an illegal monopoly in social media through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The antitrust agency aims to annul these deals, as reported by Reuters.

The FTC claims that these acquisitions were intended to eliminate competitors that could threaten Facebook's status as the leading social media platform. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 during Donald Trump's presidency.

Meta's legal chief, Jennifer Newstead, stated in her blog that the case is weak and hampers investments in technology.

"It is absurd that the FTC is trying to dismantle a large American company while the administration is attempting to save Chinese TikTok," Newstead wrote.

Since Trump's election, Meta has frequently reached out to him, rejecting content moderation that Republicans view as censorship and donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has also visited the White House numerous times in recent weeks.

Zuckerberg is expected to testify in court, where he will be questioned about emails indicating he proposed acquiring Instagram to eliminate a potential competitor to Facebook and expressed concerns that WhatsApp, initially an encrypted messaging service, could evolve into a social network.

In court documents, Meta insists that the acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 benefited users. The company also argues that Zuckerberg's previous statements are outdated given the current fierce competition from TikTok (ByteDance), YouTube (Google), and Apple's iMessage.

The FTC believes that Meta holds a monopolistic position in the market for platforms that facilitate communication with friends and family. According to the agency, Meta's only significant competitors in the U.S. are Snapchat and MeWe, while platforms like X (Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit, which focus on content sharing among strangers based on shared interests, are not considered direct competitors.

The trial is scheduled for July 2025. If the FTC prevails, it will need to demonstrate in the second phase of the case that forcing Meta to divest assets like Instagram or WhatsApp will indeed restore competition in the market.