The Federal Trade Commission will appeal its loss in a landmark antitrust case against Meta, the agency announced Tuesday.
US District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled in November that the government failed to prove that Meta had an illegal monopoly over a subset of social networking services meant for connecting with friends and family online. Boasberg wrote that the government had an “uphill battle” in how it defined the market Meta allegedly dominated, a challenge exacerbated by the rise of TikTok and changes in the market over the five years between the FTC filing the case and it going to trial.
The FTC is asking the US Court of Appeals in DC to review Boasberg’s decision and says the evidence from the six-week trial proves its case. The government argued that Meta maintained its monopoly over the personal social networking market — which it said included services like Snapchat and MeWe, but not TikTok or YouTube — by acquiring nascent threats Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC argued that Meta’s dominance let it degrade the quality of its service without any real alternatives for consumers to flee to.
“The U.S. economy thrives when competition can flourish and U.S. businesses compete fairly against one another,” FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera said in a statement. “Yet Meta has maintained its dominant position and record profits for well over a decade not through legitimate competition, but by buying its most significant competitive threats. The Trump-Vance FTC will continue fighting its historic case against Meta to ensure that competition can thrive across the country to the benefit of all Americans and U.S. businesses.”
“The District Court’s decision to reject the FTC’s arguments is correct, and recognizes the fierce competition we face,” Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro said in a statement. “We will remain focused on innovating and investing in America.”
Update, January 20th: Added Meta statement.
