Boardroom breaks down everything you need to know about the FTC revisiting Meta’s biggest acquisitions — Instagram and WhatsApp — in a high-stakes antitrust trial.
More than a decade after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allowed Facebook to acquire Instagram (2012) and WhatsApp (2014), the agency is now trying to undo those deals in a landmark antitrust trial that kicks off today.
The court will investigate whether Meta has illegally maintained monopoly power in the social media market by snuffing out big competition. Here are some key facts you need to know about the case and how it could impact the Big Tech giant’s biggest business verticals.
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What’s the FTC’s Argument?
The FTC says it got it wrong the first time. By letting Meta snap up two of the most promising social platforms of the last decade, regulators believe they enabled the Big Tech giant to solidify its dominance and stifle innovation unlawfully. Now, they want Meta to divest both Instagram and WhatsApp to restore competition. This case is among the FTC’s boldest yet.
Current FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson recently sparked debate by stating he would “obey lawful orders” from President Trump — even if asked to drop a high-profile antitrust case like the one against Meta. He made the comments at a tech policy summit hosted by Y Combinator earlier this month. Despite his loyalty to executive authority, Ferguson downplayed the possibility of Trump actually interfering in the Meta case, calling it a “hypothetical” scenario he can’t imagine happening.
This stance is a sharp departure from the approach of former FTC Chair Lina Khan, who led a more aggressive, independent FTC. Khan is a vocal critic of Big Tech’s power and led a broader push to rein in Silicon Valley giants during her tenure. The Meta antitrust case was filed under her leadership, reflecting her belief in revisiting past mergers that she saw as harmful to competition.
Meta argues it’s far from a monopoly. In fact, the company insists it faces fierce competition from the likes of TikTok, YouTube, Snap, X, and even iMessage. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has long maintained that users have plenty of options and that Meta’s success is due to its innovation, not anti-competitive behavior.
Top executives from Meta and rival companies — including Google, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube — are expected to testify during the projected eight-week trial.
What’s At Stake?
A forced breakup would deal a significant financial blow to Meta. Instagram alone is projected to account for half of Meta’s U.S. ad revenue this year, Emarketer reports. While not as profitable in the U.S., WhatsApp is a strategic asset globally and serves as a key channel for Meta’s growing AI assistant ambitions. Zuckerberg has been vocal about integrating AI across Meta’s family of apps, viewing it as the next frontier of computing.
If the FTC wins, it could force Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp and signal a major shift in U.S. antitrust enforcement against Big Tech. If Meta prevails, it could further solidify its empire—and cast doubt on regulators’ ability to rewind the clock on past tech mergers.
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