A US federal judge delivered a significant legal victory to Meta on Tuesday by dismissing the Federal Trade Commission’s high-profile antitrust lawsuit. The ruling concludes that the tech giant does not hold a monopoly in the social media market.
Judge James Boasberg of the federal district court in Washington presided over the case, which began in 2020. The FTC had alleged that Meta illegally maintained its market dominance by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp to eliminate future competitors.
In his decision, Judge Boasberg found that Meta faces substantial competition from rivals such as TikTok and YouTube. This robust competition, he concluded, prevents the company from exercising monopoly power.
The FTC’s case relied on defining a distinct social networking market that included Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, while excluding video-centric platforms like TikTok and YouTube. The court rejected this argument, stating that the distinction is no longer valid in today’s convergent digital landscape.
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“Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market,” Judge Boasberg declared. The ruling highlighted how Facebook and Instagram have fundamentally transformed, now primarily showcasing algorithmically recommended short videos—a core feature nearly identical to TikTok’s offering.
The court cited empirical data showing that Americans now spend only 17% of their time on Facebook viewing content from friends, down to just 7% on Instagram. Instead, users predominantly engage with “Reels”—short-form videos from strangers recommended by artificial intelligence.
“Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have thus evolved to have nearly identical main features,” Judge Boasberg wrote, noting that users now treat these platforms as interchangeable substitutes.
