A U.S. district judge in Washington has ruled that Meta did not violate antitrust laws with its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp more than a decade ago. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had originally sued Meta in 2020, claiming the company secured a monopoly in social media by purchasing its rivals.
“The Court ultimately concludes that the agency has not carried its burden: Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market,” wrote Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday. According to the BBC, Meta hailed this decision, and said it “recognizes that Meta faces fierce competition.”
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In April, Boasberg presided over a lengthy trial that featured testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg who argued that TikTok and YouTube had shaken up the social media landscape. He noted in his decision that the FTC had reviewed and approved of Meta’s acquisitions. The agency had argued the company overpaid when it purchased Instagram for $1 billion and WhatsApp for $19 billion.
The judge described a constantly changing social media landscape, “with apps surging and receding, chasing one craze and moving on from others, and adding new features with each passing year.” He said that even if Meta previously held such a monopoly, the FTC failed to show “that it continues to hold such power now” as Meta’s market share “seems to be shrinking.”
The FTC said in a statement to the BBC that it wasn’t sure if it planned to appeal the judgement. “We are deeply disappointed in this decision,” said Joe Simonson, director of Public Affairs at the FTC, who added the agency was reviewing all of its options.
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Simonson also said “the deck was always stacked against us with Judge Boasberg,” who has clashed multiple times with the Trump administration and is facing an effort by congressional Republicans to have him impeached.
This victory has helped Meta avoid a potential breakup of the company, which would involve spinning Instagram and Whatsapp off from it. “Our products are beneficial for people and businesses and exemplify American innovation and economic growth,” a Meta spokesperson told the BBC on Tuesday. “We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration and to invest in America.”
This decision comes after the Department of Justice’s victory in two prior cases against Google- one alleging a monopoly in online search and the other in advertising technology. However, another district judge in Washington had declined to force Google to spin off its Chrome browser, a step the justice department had said was necessary to end the tech giant’s monopoly.