By Angela Palumbo

Meta Platforms heads to trial on Monday in an antitrust case that alleges the Facebook parent has a monopoly in social networking.

The Federal Trade Commission initially filed an antitrust case against Facebook in 2020, but Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the suit in 2021. The FTC filed an amended complaint in 2021; Boasberg ruled in 2022 that the case could move forward.

The FTC alleges in its lawsuit against Meta that the company engaged in a "systematic strategy" to eliminate competitive threats in the social media space through the 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp. Meta denies this, saying it has plenty of competition from apps like TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and X.

"In order for the FTC to win this case, they need to prove both that Meta has a dominant share in a properly defined product market that includes all competitors, and that the two acquisitions harmed competition and consumers," Jennifer Newstead, the company's chief legal officer, wrote in a blog post on Sunday. "They are wrong on both claims."

An FTC victory would be bad news for Meta. According to the lawsuit, the company could be forced to break up its business, including the possible divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp.

"Instagram is now Meta's biggest moneymaker in the U.S., its most lucrative market, where the app accounts for 50.5% of the company's ad revenues in 2025," Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg said in a statement. Meta makes most of its revenue from advertising.

This trial comes at a busy time for big tech on the antitrust front. A federal judge ruled in August that Alphabet's Google had a monopoly in general search services and general text advertising. The Department of Justice and Google have both proposed remedies; a judge is expected to rule on what should be done by August.

The FTC also sued Amazon.com in September 2023, alleging it has a monopoly that hurts competition and shoppers. The Justice Department sued Apple in March 2024, alleging that it had monopolized the smartphone market.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

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April 14, 2025 11:52 ET (15:52 GMT)

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