FTC Appeals Dismissal of Meta Antitrust Case

The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that it will appeal a federal judge's ruling from last November dismissing its antitrust lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., aiming to revive claims that the social media company's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp stifled competition.

The appeal targets U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's decision in Washington, D.C., which found that the FTC failed to prove Meta currently holds a monopoly in personal social networking, despite the agency's arguments about the 2012 purchase of Instagram and the 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. Boasberg, in his 89-page opinion issued on November 18, emphasized the dynamic nature of the social media market, noting the rise of competitors like TikTok and Alphabet's YouTube as evidence that Meta faces significant rivalry today. He wrote that the FTC must demonstrate ongoing monopoly power, not just historical actions, and concluded the agency had not met that burden.

The original lawsuit, filed by the FTC in December 2020, accused Meta of illegally maintaining dominance in social networking for over a decade through anticompetitive conduct, including buying up emerging threats to protect its core...