Meta Platforms Faces High-Stakes Antitrust Battle
Meta Platforms (META) is set to face a high-stakes courtroom battle on Monday, with the US government challenging its business practices in an antitrust case that could force Mark Zuckerberg to break up his $1.3 trillion empire.
At the heart of the case is Instagram, which could be ordered to be sold if the government’s claims succeed.
US District Judge James Boasberg will oversee the showdown, set for Washington, D.C. — a critical moment for the tech firm.
Should Zuckerberg fail to persuade the government to settle before the trial starts, the firm will be put in the same boat as fellow tech giant Alphabet’s Google in taking on the government’s antitrust enforcers.
Just a few weeks ago, Google found itself embroiled in a confrontation with the Justice Department over claims that it monopolized online search markets, which a judge found in August that the company had done illegally.
The fate of Google’s $2 trillion empire remains in limbo as the case shifts to a so-called “remedies” phase this year, in which officials will decide whether to break up the tech giant. At the same time, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are facing similar antitrust scrutiny, and federal prosecutors are still working on cases against them.
FTC Targets Meta’s “Buy or Bury” Tactics
Meta’s trial focuses on claims from the Federal Trade Commission, which says that Facebook, the company’s flagship social network, abused its monopoly power to buy up smaller competitors instead of competing fairly.
The government argues that Facebook’s purchases of Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion and WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion were not just strategic acquisitions but were instead part of a larger scheme to kill competition and preserve its dominance in the social media market.
In a 2008 company email obtained by the FTC, Zuckerberg reportedly stated: “It’s better to buy than to compete,” bolstering the FTC’s contention that Facebook’s strategy was to eliminate the competition through acquisition rather than innovation.
As further evidence of Facebook’s strategy to block Google’s potential success in social networking, the government is spotlighting Facebook’s 2012 purchase of the now-defunct Google social app “Glancee.” Likewise, Facebook’s 2013 acquisition of the market intelligence service Onavo allowed the company to monitor popular mobile apps and look for direct competition like WhatsApp and the polling app called “tbh.”
By consolidating its power through acquisitions, the government argues, Meta has cemented its dominance in the online advertising market, using its surveillance capabilities to target users across the internet and outpace any potential rivals.
Meta Fights Back Against FTC Allegations
Meta has strongly disputed the FTC’s allegations, saying the acquisitions were aboveboard and that it faces strong competition. A Meta spokesperson said, “Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp compete with TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage, and many others,” adding that the FTC’s case does not capture this dynamic.
The spokesman further attacked the government’s actions, saying regulators should be standing behind American innovation, “not looking to dismantle a successful American company or hand their competitors from abroad an unfair competitive edge.”
The tech firm also argued that the FTC’s case fails to take into account that these acquisitions were reviewed and cleared by regulators over a decade ago and said that it was illegitimate to attempt to revisit these deals after such a long time.
Potential Consequences for Meta
If Judge Boasberg sides with the FTC, the tech company may be forced to divest Instagram — and potentially WhatsApp. That would have a substantial financial impact on the company; Instagram alone brought in $32 billion in US ad revenue in 2024, nearly half of Meta’s overall revenue. In 2025, Instagram’s revenue is expected to exceed more than half of Meta’s total.
Even a smaller player like WhatsApp racked up $1.7 billion from its business messaging service in 2024. Both losses would be a huge blow to Meta’s finances.
Judge Skeptical of FTC’s Case
Although Judge Boasberg has signaled that he is willing to listen to the FTC’s case, he has also expressed some doubts.
Legal experts say the government may have difficulty persuading the judge that LinkedIn and other social media platforms should not be seen as belonging to the same market. And even if Boasberg came around to the FTC’s narrow view of the personal social networking market, Meta’s share of daily and monthly active users may not be sufficiently dominant to demonstrate that it has monopolistic control.
The case is one of the highest-profile antitrust challenges in recent years against Meta, and its ruling may set a precedent across the technology industry. With other major corporations also under scrutiny, the government’s battle against monopolistic behavior in Silicon Valley is only beginning — and the fate of Zuckerberg’s empire may well rest on this consequential confrontation.
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