The US Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday that it was appealing a court ruling that dismissed its antitrust case against Meta, insisting the tech giant illegally monopolized social media.
“Our position has not changed. Meta violated our antitrust laws when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp,” Joe Simonson, the FTC’s director of public affairs, told reporters.
“Consequently, American consumers have suffered from that monopoly,” he added.
The agency filed a notice of appeal with the DC Circuit Court, starting a process that could eventually reach the Supreme Court.
US District Judge James Boasberg’s November ruling delivered a major victory to Meta, ending a legal battle launched in 2020 over the company’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
Boasberg concluded that Meta faces sufficient competition from rivals TikTok and YouTube, preventing it from exercising monopoly power.
“Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market,” the judge wrote, noting that Facebook and Instagram now primarily show users algorithm-recommended short videos almost identical to TikTok’s format.
The court cited data showing Americans spend only 17% of their Facebook time viewing friends’ content and just 7% on Instagram, with users predominantly watching “Reels” — short videos from strangers.
A senior FTC official criticised the ruling, saying the judge took “a very odd path” by basing his decision solely on Meta’s market position at the time of trial rather than over a longer period.
“This approach was a fundamental error that let him just sweep its misconduct under the rug,” the official added, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Boasberg’s ruling marked another setback for US antitrust enforcers pursuing aggressive action against Big Tech, which have seen mixed results in court.
The government has launched five major cases against tech giants in recent years, including two against Google and separate suits against Apple and Amazon. In September, a different judge rejected a government bid to break up Google, finding that the search giant did not act as an illegal monopoly. Google appealed that ruling last week.
AFP
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