A federal judge has delivered a significant legal victory to Meta, dismissing a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit that sought to dismantle the company’s core social media holdings. The ruling ensures that Meta will not be forced to divest its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
The case, pursued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), argued that Meta had unlawfully maintained a monopoly in social networking through a strategy of acquiring potential rivals. The agency had sought a court order to spin off the two platforms, which were purchased for billions of dollars in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Losing either property would have represented a profound threat to the company’s financial and strategic foundation.
In a decisive opinion, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found that the FTC failed to prove Meta currently holds monopoly power. The judge pointed to the dramatic evolution of the digital landscape, specifically highlighting the explosive rise of TikTok as a formidable competitor that has reshaped user engagement and market dynamics.
“The agency’s case rests on a static view of a market that no longer exists,” the judge stated in the ruling. He noted that even excluding other platforms, the competitive threat posed by TikTok alone undermines the core premise of the government’s lawsuit.
The decision marks a notable setback for a broader regulatory campaign aimed at curbing the dominance of major technology firms. It stands in contrast to recent judicial findings against other industry giants, such as rulings that declared Google an illegal monopoly in search and advertising. Separate antitrust actions by federal regulators against Amazon and Apple remain ongoing.
A Meta spokesperson hailed the verdict as a validation of the company’s position and a rejection of what it called a flawed legal theory. The FTC has not yet indicated whether it will appeal the ruling.
The outcome leaves Meta’s integrated family of apps—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—intact, allowing the company to continue its strategy of cross-platform integration and development without the immediate threat of a government-mandated breakup.