Meta Wins Major Victory as U.S. Judge Dismisses

Meta appeared to score a significant legal victory on Tuesday after a U.S. court rejected the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) long-standing antitrust lawsuit challenging the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, in a newly released opinion, ruled that the FTC failed to prove that Meta is currently violating antitrust laws through its past purchases of the two platforms. Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.

FTC Evidence Acknowledged, But Not Enough

The FTC did present internal communications showing that Meta — then operating as Facebook — viewed Instagram’s rapid rise as a serious competitive threat.

In one 2012 email revealed during the trial, Mark Zuckerberg wrote:

“What we’re really buying is time. Even if some new competitors spring up, buying Instagram, Path, Foursquare, etc., now will give us a year or more to integrate their dynamics before anyone can get close to their scale again.”

While Judge Boasberg recognized this evidence, he emphasized that the case hinged on Meta’s present-day monopoly power, not past behavior.

Competition Today: TikTok Undercuts Monopoly Claims

Boasberg noted that the digital landscape has transformed dramatically since the FTC filed the lawsuit five years ago. The rise of competitors — particularly TikTok — undermined the FTC’s argument that Meta maintains a monopoly in social networking or social media.

In his opinion, Boasberg wrote:

“The landscape that existed only five years ago when the Federal Trade Commission brought this antitrust suit has changed markedly.”

He further stated that the traditional separation of “social networking” and “social media” as distinct markets “has since broken down,” weakening the legal foundation for the FTC’s claims.