Meta Platforms Inc. headed to court on Monday in a major antitrust trial that could force the company to separate from Instagram and WhatsApp, two platforms it bought over a decade ago and transformed into global social media giants.
The lawsuit, first filed in 2020 under President Donald Trump’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC), claimed Meta (formerly Facebook) acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to kill competition and maintain a monopoly in social media.
The FTC argued that Meta followed its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg’s early strategy of “buying, not competing” by targeting rivals and acquiring them to prevent future threats.
Instagram and WhatsApp helped the company transition from desktop to mobile and stay relevant among younger users.
“Unable to maintain its monopoly by fairly competing, the company’s executives addressed the existential threat by buying up new innovators that were succeeding where Facebook failed,” the FTC said.
Meta defended its actions, saying Instagram and WhatsApp face fierce competition from TikTok, YouTube, iMessage, and others.
It accuses the FTC of trying to rewrite history by challenging deals approved over 10 years ago and argues the lawsuit sends a message that no acquisition is ever truly final.
Meta said the FTC’s lawsuit “defies reality.”
“The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Chinese-owned TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and many others.
“More than 10 years after the FTC reviewed and cleared our acquisitions, the Commission’s action in this case sends the message that no deal is ever truly final.
“Regulators should be supporting American innovation, rather than seeking to break up a great American company and further advantaging China on critical issues like AI,” the company said in a statement.
However, the FTC has a narrow definition of Meta’s competitive market, excluding companies like TikTok, YouTube, and Apple’s messaging service from being considered rivals to Instagram and WhatsApp.
The trial will be decided by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who has expressed scepticism about the FTC’s narrow market definition but allowed the case to proceed.
The impact could be massive if Meta loses and is forced to spin off Instagram. Instagram is Meta’s most significant ad revenue driver in the U.S., accounting for over 50% of its earnings in 2025.
This case is part of a broader crackdown on Big Tech, with Google and Amazon facing federal antitrust lawsuits.
Legal experts say the outcome could redefine how 21st-century tech companies are regulated under laws written over a century ago.
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