New Delhi, November 19: Meta has reportedly won a legal battle against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. As per reports, a US federal judge dismissed the FTC’s antitrust case against Meta, stating that the company does not have a monopoly in the social media sector.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, former operating chief Sheryl Sandberg, along with several current and former Meta executives, provided testimony during the trial, which started in April. As per a report of Bloomberg Law, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled on the case. Google vs Perplexity! Did Google Buy the Perplexity.in Domain and Redirect It to the Gemini AI Page?.

The judge stated that the Federal Trade Commission was unable to demonstrate that Meta’s acquisitions enabled the company to unlawfully monopolise the social networking market. The ruling represents a setback for the FTC, which had filed the antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant in 2020 during the Donald Trump administration.

During the trial, the FTC claimed that Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 instead of competing with them. The agency argued that these purchases were intended to strengthen Meta’s dominance in the segment of the social networking market. FTC spokesperson Joseph Simonson reportedly said, "We are deeply disappointed in this decision." Simonson stated that the agency is currently evaluating all possible options. Microsoft, NVIDIA and Anthropic Announce Strategic Partnerships To Scale Claude on Azure and Boost Investments.

The judge concluded that the FTC did not provide sufficient evidence to support its claims against the tech giant. The judge said, "With apps surging and receding, chasing one craze and moving on from others, and adding new features with each passing year, the FTC has understandably struggled to fix the boundaries of Meta’s product market. Whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past, though, the agency must show that it continues to hold such power now. The court’s verdict today determines that the FTC has not done so."

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2025 01:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).