Facebook parent Meta Platforms faces a high-stakes trial in Washington starting on Monday on claims it built an illegal social media monopoly by spending billions of dollars to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp, in a case where U.S. antitrust enforcers seek to unwind the deals.
The acquisitions more than a decade ago aimed to eliminate competitors who could threaten Facebook’s status as the go-to social media platform for users to connect with friends and family, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission claims. It filed the case in 2020, during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term.
The FTC is trying to force Meta to restructure or sell parts of its business. That means if the commission is successful, Instagram and WhatsApp could be hived off from Meta to become their own entities once again.
In a blog post on Sunday, Meta chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead called the case weak and a deterrent to tech investment.
“It’s absurd that the FTC is trying to break up a great American company at the same time the Administration is trying to save Chinese-owned TikTok,” she wrote.
The case poses an existential threat to Meta, which by some estimates earns about half of its U.S. advertising revenue from Instagram, while also giving the public its first real measure of how strongly the new Trump administration will follow up on its promises to take on Big Tech.
Meta has been making regular overtures to Trump since his election, nixing content moderation policies Republicans said amounted to censorship and donating $1 million USD to Trump’s inauguration. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also visited the White House multiple times in recent weeks.
U.S. President Donald Trump raised a record amount of corporate donations for his inauguration, millions of which were donated by CEOs of major tech companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta. Andrew Chang explains the shift in Trump’s relationships with these industry leaders since his first term, and the symbolism of their proximity to the president.
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“The Trump-Vance FTC could not be more ready for this trial,” said FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson, adding, “We are blessed with some of the most hardworking and intelligent lawyers in the country who are working around the clock.”
WhatsApp and Instagram helped Facebook move its business from desktop computers to mobile devices, and to remain popular with younger generations as rivals like Snapchat (which it also tried, but failed, to buy) and TikTok emerged.
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 FTC already has the difficult task, whether it’s looking at 10 years ago or five years ago or today, of trying to…
Read More: Meta heads to court over alleged illegal monopoly that could force it to
