Meta has won a major antitrust case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), clearing the coāmpany of claims that it held a monopoly in social networking. The ruling means Meta will not have to break off Instagram or WhatsApp.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued the decision after the historic trial ended in late May 2025. He noted that the FTC failed to prove Meta currently holds monopoly power and relied on outdated market conditions. The agency needed to demonstrate Meta’s present dominance, which it did not.
The case comes amid growing scrutiny of large tech companies. In recent months, courts found Google an illegal monopoly in search and online advertising, making the Meta case especially significant.
FTC’s claims about Meta’s acquisitions
The FTC argued that Meta followed a strategy described in internal communications from 2008: “It is better to buy than compete.” The agency said Facebook, now Meta, identified rising companies and acquired them before they could challenge the platform.
Instagram and WhatsApp were central to the FTC’s argument. Instagram was bought in 2012 when it was a small photo-sharing app, and WhatsApp was purchased in 2014 for $22 billion as mobile messaging grew. The FTC claimed these acquisitions blocked competition rather than improved Meta’s own products.
During the April hearings, Mark Zuckerberg was questioned about emails exchanged before and after the Instagram acquisition. FTC attorney Daniel Matheson cited documents showing Meta viewed Instagram as a potential competitor. Zuckerberg acknowledged the emails but said they did not fully reflect the business reasons for the acquisition.
The FTC also claimed Meta’s policies made it harder for smaller apps to grow, especially during the shift from desktop to mobile devices. Meta denied these claims. After the ruling, Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said the decision recognises the strong competition Meta faces and highlighted the benefits of its products for users and businesses.
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Changing market conditions
A major factor in the ruling was how much the social media market had changed since the FTC filed the lawsuit in 2020. Judge James Boasberg noted that earlier versions of the case did not mention TikTok, which had become one of Meta’s strongest competitors by the trial.
The judge said the market now includes many apps for video, messaging, entertainment, and creative tools. People use multiple platforms daily, making it inaccurate to view Instagram and Facebook as separate, isolated markets. The old distinction between “social networking” and “social media” has largely disappeared, and users now switch between short-video apps, messaging platforms, streaming tools, and photo-sharing apps. This broader competition weakened the FTC’s claim that Meta controlled a limited market.
Judge Boasberg quoted that one cannot step into the same river twice, noting that the social media landscape looked different in 2020, 2021, and 2025, making it harder for the FTC to prove that Meta currently holds monopoly power.
Background of Instagram and WhatsApp
Instagram and WhatsApp were key to Meta’s growth, helping the company shift from desktop to mobile. Instagram was purchased in 2012 for $1 billion in cash and stock, later valued at $750 million after Facebook’s IPO. It was the first major acquisition Facebook kept as a separate app, unlike earlier, smaller hires.
WhatsApp was bought in 2014 for $22 billion and had a large global user base on mobile devices. Meta continued to operate it independently, like Instagram.
Judge Boasberg said these acquisitions were part of the past market, and the FTC did not prove they created monopoly power today. He noted that TikTok, YouTube, and Apple’s messaging service were excluded from the FTC’s defined market despite being widely used. Because the FTC focused on a narrow set of apps, the court found it did not reflect actual competition.
Meta said it will continue investing in its platforms. According to Judge Boasberg, Meta does not have to separate Instagram or WhatsApp.