- A federal judge in Washington dismisses the FTC's lawsuit and concludes that Meta does not exercise monopoly power today.
- The market transformation with TikTok and YouTube was key to invalidating the definition of “personal social networks”.
- The FTC failed to provide current evidence to support the claim that the integration of Instagram and WhatsApp maintains a monopoly.
- The ruling provides a lifeline for Meta and a setback for the antitrust offensive in the US, with effects that Europe will be watching closely.
The legal battle over the Meta's alleged monopoly on social media has been resolved, for now, in favor of the companya. A federal judge in Washington DC has dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) lawsuit, ruling that The agency has not demonstrated that the company currently exercises dominant market power.
The verdict states end to five years of dispute and avoids, for now, that Meta be forced to unbundle Instagram or WhatsAppThe resolution, written in a forceful tone, emphasizes that The market has changed with the emergence of video platforms like TikTok and YouTubeThis makes it difficult to maintain a monopoly in so-called "personal social networks".
What the court has decided and why it matters
Judge James Boasberg determined that the FTC failed to meet its burden of proof “current or imminent legal violation”“Regardless of whether Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past, the agency must demonstrate that it continues to hold it now,” the ruling states. According to the magistrate, The most used part of Facebook and Instagram today is “indistinguishable” from what TikTok and YouTube offer..
The ruling emphasizes the evolution of the sector: Apps that change direction, features that are incorporated at high speed, and consumption habits that no longer fit with a closed market of "friends and family"In that context, the court rejects the FTC's proposed definition of market, which excluded competitors such as TikTok or YouTube.
Why the FTC failed to convince the judge
The agency maintained that The acquisitions of Instagram (2012) and WhatsApp (2014) reinforced Meta's monopoly in social media. However, the court considers that the current competitive landscape —marked by the rise of short videos and algorithm-recommended content— dilutes that thesis and demonstrates real substitution between platforms.
During the trial, instances of user behavior were presented: When Meta experiences global outages, a significant portion of its audience migrates to TikTok and YouTube., and When TikTok has been unavailable in some markets, the use of Meta products has spiked.For the judge, the competitive pressure is tangible: TikTok forced Meta to invest about 4.000 million dollars in promoting Reels.
The very usage metric used in the process called the monopoly into question: Americans would now only dedicate 17% of the time on Facebook to content from friends and 7% on InstagramThese figures are in line with consumption dominated by recommended video rather than strictly personal connections.
Key testimonies and case timeline
The process began with investigations in 2019 and a lawsuit in 2020. In 2021 the case was initially dismissed due to a lack of evidence and, after a more detailed reformulation, admitted for processing in 2022The trial lasted for weeks and included appearances by Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Kevin Systrom, among others.
The FTC pointed to emails and internal documents —such as the famous “It's better to buy than to compete"—to argue that Meta neutralized threats through acquisitions." Meta responded that it competes for attention with TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, or Pinterest and that their purchasing strategy is legitimate in an environment of accelerated innovation.
Reactions, market impact and the European perspective
After the verdict was announced, Meta shares pared intraday losses And the tone in the markets was one of moderate relief. The company welcomed the decision recognizing the “fierce competition” in the sector, while the FTC expressed its disappointment and stated that it will review its options.
The case is part of a broader offensive against Big Tech in the United States, with legal proceedings against Google, Apple, and Amazon on various frontsThe FTC's defeat here represents a significant setback and serves as a warning to regulators in other jurisdictions. In Europe, the discussion on market power and platforms will closely follow this US outcome, although local processes and criteria are progressing along their own lines.
Beyond the noise, this ruling makes one thing clear: the court has not validated Meta's current monopoly on social media, relying on the evidence of effective competence, in the growing importance of short videos and in the difficulty of fitting Instagram and Facebook into a market separate from the rest of the platforms that capture users' attention.
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