A federal antitrust trial opening Monday could reshape how the U.S. polices digital competition — and place Meta, the parent company of Facebook, on a path toward a forced breakup.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will square off against Meta before Judge James Boasberg in a Washington courtroom, arguing that the company maintained a social media monopoly by systematically acquiring rising rivals, including Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
Rather than innovating, Meta allegedly pursued a strategy regulators have labeled “buy or bury” — snapping up emerging threats to stifle competition before it could take root. If the court sides with the government, Meta could be ordered to divest both platforms.
“This is a critical test case for whether the antitrust laws can be used to unwind mergers designed to eliminate upstart competition,” said Gene Kimmelman, a former senior official in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice, in an interview with The New York Times. “A win for the government would give consumers more choices and opportunities to switch across social media platforms without having to be on Facebook.”
Meta has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the social media landscape is now more competitive than ever, with players like TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and LinkedIn. The company also points out that both acquisitions were cleared by regulators at the time: Instagram had 30 million users and just 13 employees; WhatsApp counted 450 million users and a 50-person team.
“We are confident that the evidence at trial will show that the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been good for competition and consumers,” stated Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro. “The commission is wrongly continuing to assert that no deal is ever truly final, and businesses can be punished for innovating.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify during a seven-hour deposition, along with former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and the founders of both acquired platforms. The government’s case draws on internal company records, including a 2008 email in which Zuckerberg wrote, “It is better to buy than compete,” and a 2012 memo referring to the goal of “neutralizing a potential competitor.”
The trial is expected to last several weeks and marks the first major antitrust case of the Trump administration. Although the FTC lawsuit was initiated under Chair Lina Khan — a Biden appointee and vocal critic of Big Tech monopolies — it has gained momentum under Andrew Ferguson, appointed by President Trump to continue the crackdown.
The Meta case is part of a broader regulatory push against dominant tech firms. Google has already been found liable for monopolizing online search and is headed to trial over its digital advertising practices. Apple is under DOJ scrutiny for its closed ecosystem, and Amazon is facing an FTC suit over alleged abuses in its e-commerce dominance.
Judge Boasberg, known for previous legal clashes with the White House — including over the deportation of Venezuelan migrants — initially dismissed the FTC’s case in 2021 for lack of detail. He allowed a revised version to proceed the following year, though he cautioned that the agency would face “complex questions” in defending its claims.
The biggest hurdle for the FTC may be proving that, without the acquisitions, Meta wouldn’t have retained its grip on the industry — a hypothetical scenario experts say is tough to establish more than a decade later.
