Meta pleads with judge to dismiss FTC's antitrust case

New Delhi: Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is making a final plea to US District Judge James Boasberg to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust lawsuit as a high-stakes trial enters its second month. 

The trial, which began on April 14, 2025, could potentially reshape the tech giant’s $1.4 trillion advertising empire and set a precedent for Silicon Valley’s regulatory landscape under the Trump administration.

The FTC’s lawsuit, originally filed in December 2020 alongside 46 US states, accuses Meta of engaging in anti-competitive practices through its acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. 

The agency alleged that Meta pursued a “buy or bury” strategy to neutralise potential competitors, thereby maintaining monopolistic power in the US social networking market. 

Government lawyers have presented internal emails from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, including a 2012 message where he wrote that acquiring Instagram was motivated by a desire to “neutralise a potential competitor.” 

Another email from 2014 described WhatsApp as “a big risk for us,” further fueling the FTC’s claims of anti-competitive intent.

Meta’s legal team, led by attorney Mark Hansen, has pushed back aggressively, arguing that the FTC’s case rests on an overly narrow definition of the social media market. Hansen contends that the FTC’s framework excludes major competitors like TikTok, YouTube, and Apple’s iMessage, portraying Meta as dominant in a “crowded online world” where it merely competes for user attention. 

During pretrial motions, Meta sought dismissal on multiple grounds, including claims that FTC Chair Lina Khan should have recused herself due to her prior writings as a scholar, which allegedly showed bias against the company. However, Judge Boasberg ruled on November 13, 2024, that Meta must face trial, setting the stage for the current proceedings.

The government aims to prove that Meta’s acquisitions violated US competition laws, potentially forcing the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp—a corporate breakup not seen since AT&T’s split in the 1980s. Such a move could severely impact Meta’s integrated user data and advertising systems, which rely heavily on the synergy between its platforms.

Meta’s latest plea for dismissal comes as the trial, expected to run for nearly two months, continues to unfold in a federal courtroom in Washington, DC. 

The company argued that the FTC has failed to provide sufficient evidence of monopolistic behaviour, emphasising that its acquisitions were approved by regulators at the time and that the social media landscape has since evolved with new competitors. 

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, however, remains resolute. He has stated that his team is “raring to go” and prepared to challenge Meta’s dominance, though he also noted that a settlement remains possible if directed by the president.