Meta has reportedly won its antitrust case against the FTC, a case that the US regulator brought against the social media giant back in 2020 . At the time that the case was initially being brought forward, the FTC was suing Meta over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, alleging that Meta was a monopoly and stifling competition. Meta denied these claims back in May. This sort of thing has worked before, though. Google lost its years-long case against Epic Games , with the Play Store being labeled a monopoly.
That lawsuit was eventually dismissed in 2021, but a case was allowed to move forward in 2022 after the FTC filed a new lawsuit.
Should the FTC have won its case against Meta, it could have spelled tumultuous times for the company formerly known as Facebook. One of the major concerns was that Meta would end up having to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram. It appears that this won’t be happening , and Meta will be able to continue at the helm of both companies. According to Bloomerberg Law, the judge presiding over the case, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, has said that the FTC has failed to prove that Meta is a monopoly. For its part, Meta presented its argument that the continued growth of competitor TikTok shows that there is still plenty of competition in the social media market.
Meta has won its antitrust case, but the FTC could still appeal
While Meta may appear to be in the clear from here on out, the FTC could still appeal this case to try and reverse Boasberg’s ruling. That being said, the FTC has not made clear if it plans to even pursue an appeal. Even if that is in the regulator’s plans, it may be keeping that detail close to the chest until further notice.
Boasberg, ruling in favor of Meta in this case, states that “the agency must show that it continues to hold such power,” referencing the FTC’s inability to show that Meta still holds monopoly power in the social media space. There may have been a time when Meta had monopoly power with no real rivals. However, the courts don’t seem to think that is the case in the here and now.
