By Meta Platforms Inc. is back in court this week in a high-stakes antitrust trial that could force it to break up its social media empire by spinning off Instagram and WhatsApp—two of its most valuable assets.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which first filed the lawsuit in 2020, argues Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to eliminate rising competitors and solidify its dominance in the social media space.
“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 in its case against Meta.
Meta hit back hard, defending the decades-old acquisitions and accusing the FTC of trying to rewrite history. “The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows,” Meta said. “Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with TikTok, YouTube, iMessage and others.”
The case will be decided by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who previously questioned the FTC’s narrow definition of Meta’s market but allowed the case to move forward. If Meta loses, it may be forced to separate from Instagram, which currently generates more than half of its U.S. ad revenue.
This trial is part of a broader federal crackdown on Big Tech giants like Google and Amazon. Legal experts say the outcome could reshape how modern tech firms are regulated under antitrust laws that date back over a century.
