Meta on Tuesday celebrated its sweeping courtroom victory over the Federal Trade Commission, framing the ruling as a recognition that the company operates in a far more competitive digital environment than regulators have argued.
The reaction came hours after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg rejected the FTC’s attempt to force Meta to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, concluding the agency failed to prove that the tech giant still holds monopoly power in social networking.
The lawsuit, filed in 2020 and seen as one of the most consequential antitrust challenges in Silicon Valley’s history, had threatened to reshape Meta’s business by forcing it to divest two of its most valuable platforms.
Meta’s Andy Stone shared this statement on X, attributed to a spokesperson, “The Court’s decision today recognizes that Meta faces fierce competition. Our products are beneficial for people and businesses and exemplify American innovation and economic growth. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration and to invest in America.”
The response underscores Meta’s long-standing argument that the FTC defined its market far too narrowly, ignoring rivals like TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Apple’s messaging services — all of which Judge Boasberg noted now play central roles in the social media landscape.
Boasberg’s ruling came after a multiyear legal process marked by dramatic shifts in the industry itself. When the FTC first filed its case, TikTok had not yet exploded into the cultural force it is today, and Meta’s competitors in mobile video and messaging had not yet reached their current scale. Boasberg wrote that the “river” of social networking had fundamentally changed, making earlier assumptions about the market outdated. His opinion also acknowledged that while Meta once may have held outsized dominance, the agency could not demonstrate that the company continues to do so now.
The FTC had argued that Meta pursued a strategy of acquisitions to eliminate competitive threats, pointing to internal emails in which CEO Mark Zuckerberg described a “better to buy than compete” approach. Regulators said Facebook’s purchases of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 were designed to prevent the rise of rival platforms. But Meta countered that both apps were small operations at the time and that the deals helped them develop into global services used by billions of people. Zuckerberg, testifying at trial, acknowledged the early emails but insisted they reflected exploratory thinking rather than an intent to crush competitors.
The ruling marks a significant setback for the FTC, which has recently scored major victories against Google in both search and digital advertising antitrust cases. Meta’s win underscores the difficulty regulators face in trying to unwind mergers years after the fact, especially in a fast-changing industry where user behavior and market power shift rapidly. While the FTC can appeal the decision, Meta’s leadership signaled Tuesday that it is eager to move forward, seeking to present itself not as an entrenched monopoly but as a company navigating — and competing in — a constantly evolving digital marketplace.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.