Facebook parent company Meta Platforms asked a federal judge on Thursday to throw out the US Federal Trade Commission’s case accusing it of an illegal social media monopoly, saying the agency failed to prove its case at a high-stakes antitrust trial.
At the trial, which began on April 14 in Washington, the FTC has sought to show that Meta, then known as Facebook, illegally dominated the market for social media platforms used to share updates with friends and family through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC is seeking to unwind those deals, which occurred more than a decade ago.
If granted, Meta’s request for a ruling on the evidence so far would bring a quicker end to the case, though US District Judge James Boasberg could decline to take it up. Meta is now presenting its own evidence at the trial, which may run into June.
A spokesperson for the FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The FTC is seeking to show that Meta, then known as Facebook, bought Instagram and WhatsApp to take out upstart rivals, pointing to emails where CEO Mark Zuckerberg worried about the apps’ growth.
But evidence at trial showed that WhatsApp had no plan to expand to become a social network rival to Facebook, and that Zuckerberg knew that before the deal was finalised, Meta said Thursday. And testimony showed Instagram grew after the acquisition, the company said.
Meta also argued FTC failed to show a meaningful difference between supposed friends-and-family sharing apps — such as SnapChat, Instagram and Facebook — and TikTok, which Meta said it has been forced to imitate to survive.
Platforms where users broadcast content to strangers based on shared interests, such as X, TikTok, YouTube and Reddit, are not interchangeable, the FTC has said.
“The through line connecting all of these social apps is that each vies to show the most compelling user-generated content so that it can take as much user time and attention as possible from the other apps, including Meta’s apps,” the company said.
If Boasberg does not grant Meta’s request, the FTC and Meta are expected to file final briefs and deliver closing arguments after the company is finished presenting evidence.
If the judge then finds that Meta holds an illegal monopoly, the case would go to a second trial over the appropriate measures to address it.
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