FTC Appeals After Judge Clears Meta Of Monopoly

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Jan. 20 that it will appeal U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's Nov. 18 ruling that cleared Meta Platforms Inc. of illegally maintaining a monopoly in personal social networking services and said trial evidence shows Meta's 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp were anticompetitive, the agency said in a statement.

The appeal revives a case that followed a historic antitrust trial that concluded in late May in which the FTC sought divestitures of Instagram and WhatsApp and Judge James Boasberg ruled on Nov. 18 that Meta does not hold a monopoly in part because competition from apps such as TikTok undercut the FTC's market-definition theory, court records show.

FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson said in the agency's Jan. 20 statement that the FTC "continues to allege" Meta "violated our antitrust laws when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp" and that American consumers "have suffered from Meta's monopoly," while Meta chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said the Nov. 18 decision "recognizes the fierce competition we face," according to Meta's statement to the press.

If the FTC ultimately prevails on appeal it could seek structural remedies including forcing Meta to divest Instagram or WhatsApp, a potential outcome that would mark a major shift for a company whose platforms compete with other major services and that follows separate federal rulings that found Google an illegal monopoly in search and online advertising, legal analysts say.

The FTC said it will file its appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia with no immediate timetable for oral arguments or a decision, and the agency said a different judicial panel could reassess market definitions and remedies, officials said.