A high-stakes antitrust trial against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, began Monday in Washington, with potential consequences that could reshape the social media landscape.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Meta, alleging that its acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 were part of a deliberate strategy to crush competition and secure a social media monopoly.
Although the FTC had initially reviewed and approved both acquisitions, it argues that Meta’s dominance has stifled innovation and harmed consumers. If the FTC wins, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be forced to divest from Instagram and WhatsApp—an unprecedented move in the tech world.
Meta maintains confidence in its legal position and, according to experts, will likely argue that users have benefited from these acquisitions through improved services and features.
“The [FTC’s] argument is the acquisition of Instagram was a way of neutralizing this rising competitive threat to Facebook,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor of antitrust law at Vanderbilt Law School.
“He said it’s better to buy than to compete. It’s hard to get more literal than that,” Allensworth added, referencing past emails from Zuckerberg that may be used as key evidence.
Meta, meanwhile, is expected to challenge the relevance of intent in antitrust law:
“They’re going to say the real question is: are consumers better off as a result of this merger?” she said. “They’ll put on a lot of evidence that Instagram became what it is today because it benefited from being owned by Facebook.”
Both Mark Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg are scheduled to testify during the trial, which could last several weeks.
Politics and Pressure
The case—FTC v Meta—was originally filed under President Donald Trump’s first administration. Now, it’s reentering the spotlight just as Trump campaigns for a potential second term, raising concerns over political influence.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg personally lobbied Trump to have the case dropped. When asked by the BBC to confirm the report, Meta did not directly address the claim but issued a statement:
“The FTC’s lawsuits against Meta defies reality. More than 10 years after the FTC reviewed and cleared our acquisitions, the commission’s action in this case sends the message that no deal is ever truly final.”
Relations between Trump and Zuckerberg have fluctuated, particularly after Trump was banned from Meta platforms following the Capitol riot in January 2021. However, recent developments suggest their relationship has warmed. Meta contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and announced in January that UFC president and Trump ally Dana White would join its board of directors.
That same month, Meta also eliminated its independent fact-checking program.
Concerns Over Interference
In March, President Trump dismissed two Democratic FTC commissioners—Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya—leaving the five-seat commission temporarily with only two Republicans until another Republican was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.
Slaughter and Bedoya are now suing to be reinstated, claiming the move was a political threat.
“The president sent a very clear signal not only to us but to Chairman Ferguson and Commissioner [Melissa] Holyoak that if they do something he doesn’t like, he could fire them too,” Slaughter told the BBC.
“So if they don’t want to do a favor for his political allies, they’re on the chopping block as well.”
Both expressed unease about reports of Zuckerberg lobbying Trump:
“My hope is that there is no political interference,” Bedoya told the BBC.
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, appointed by Trump, has stated he would follow the law if ordered to drop the lawsuit.
Ferguson told The Verge he would “obey lawful orders” when asked if he would drop a case at the president’s request. He added, “I would be very surprised if anything like that ever happened.”
Still, Ferguson has publicly expressed skepticism about independent agencies like the FTC, calling them “not good for democracy.”
An Uphill Legal Battle
The trial comes amid another major antitrust case—USA v Google—which is now in its remedies phase. Last summer, a judge ruled that Google holds a monopoly in online search. The Department of Justice is now pushing for the breakup of Google’s search business.
However, experts believe the FTC’s case against Meta will be harder to prove.
“I think they have a real uphill battle,” said Laura Phillips-Sawyer, associate professor of business law at the University of Georgia.
“They have a long road before any consideration of divestiture of Instagram or WhatsApp is considered.”
Unlike Google’s near-total dominance in search, Meta operates in a more crowded social networking space, where platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) compete aggressively.
Meta reinforced this view in a statement:
“The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Chinese-owned TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and many others.”
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