Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is on trial this Monday in a high-stakes antitrust case that could force the tech giant to break up its empire by divesting Instagram and WhatsApp. The trial, taking place in a federal court in Washington, stems from allegations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Meta used its dominant market position to acquire potential rivals before they could challenge its monopoly.
The case marks a significant legal challenge to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s long-held strategy of neutralizing competition through acquisition. Hopes that a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House might ease regulatory pressure have been dashed, as the trial moves forward under the watch of Judge James Boasberg, who is also overseeing a separate immigration case involving wartime deportation powers.
Originally filed in December 2020 during Trump’s presidency, the case raised speculation about whether his administration would push the FTC to drop it. But that never materialized. Despite repeated lobbying efforts by Zuckerberg—including donations to Trump’s inauguration fund, changes to Facebook’s content moderation policies, and even the purchase of a $23 million mansion in Washington, D.C.—FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson dismissed the idea of a last-minute settlement. “I’d be very surprised if anything like that ever happened,” he told The Verge.
The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks, with testimony from Zuckerberg himself, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, and numerous executives from both Meta and rival tech firms.
At the center of the case is Meta’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and its $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014. The FTC argues that both deals were strategic moves by Zuckerberg to eliminate emerging threats to Facebook’s dominance—either by absorbing them or preventing competitors from doing so.
Meta’s legal team will argue that the company’s investments were crucial in turning Instagram and WhatsApp into the global platforms they are today. They will also point out that Meta’s products are free to users and operate in a highly competitive environment.
However, the FTC contends that Meta’s monopoly is evidenced by the degraded user experience on its platforms—characterized by excessive ads and unwanted product changes, which users must accept due to a lack of meaningful alternatives.
This case is just one of five major antitrust lawsuits recently brought against Big Tech in the U.S. Google is currently battling two such cases, including one in which it was already found guilty of abusing its dominance in the search market. Apple and Amazon are also preparing for their own court battles.
The outcome of Meta’s trial could reshape the future of antitrust enforcement in the tech industry—and determine whether giants like Meta can continue to grow through acquisition, or face a new era of regulatory pushback.
