Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) will stand trial in a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit that seeks to break up the company over accusations it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to eliminate competition in social media. A judge in Washington ruled on Wednesday that the case will proceed.
Judge James Boasberg denied Meta’s request to dismiss the case, which was filed against Facebook in 2020 during the Trump administration. The lawsuit claims that Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 were aimed at suppressing emerging competitors, rather than fostering competition in the mobile ecosystem.
The judge allowed the FTC’s claims about these acquisitions to stand, but dismissed an allegation that Facebook had restricted third-party developers access to its platform unless they agreed not to compete with Facebook’s core services.
Boasberg also blocked Meta from using as a defense the argument that acquiring WhatsApp helped improve its position against competitors like Apple and Google. A detailed ruling will be issued later on Wednesday after both parties have reviewed and redacted any sensitive commercial information.
No trial date has been set yet. Meta had argued that the case relied on a too narrow view of the social media market and overlooked competition from platforms like TikTok, YouTube, X and LinkedIn.
