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New Court Fight Has Huge Stakes for Zuckerberg

Meta's antitrust trial begins Monday in Washington
Posted Apr 14, 2025 9:45 AM CDT
Meta's Empire Could Crumble in FTC Showdown
Attendees visit the Meta booth at the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco on March 22, 2023.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The Federal Trade Commission is taking Meta to court. In a trial beginning Monday, the US government will argue that the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp broke competition laws in acquiring the latter two apps in 2012 and 2014, respectively. More:

  • The case: It began in December 2020 during President Trump's first term, when he was in "a bitter feud" with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, per NPR. The pair have seem much more friendly as of late, and Zuckerberg has reportedly personally requested that the Trump administration drop the case, but that hasn't happened yet.
  • What's at stake: If it loses the case, Meta could be forced into "a corporate breakup the likes of which has not been seen since AT&T's telephone monopoly was forced to split apart more than 40 years ago," per NPR.

  • A comparison: The government is pushing to break up Google's online search monopoly after winning a major antitrust case last year. But the government will have a harder case against Meta since there's more competition in the social media landscape compared to online search, University of Georgia business law expert Laura Phillips-Sawyer tells the BBC.
  • FTC's argument: The FTC argues Meta bought up competitors to maintain a social media monopoly in defiance of federal antitrust laws while withholding key information from regulators. "The FTC reviewed and approved those acquisitions but committed to monitor the outcomes," per the BBC. It now says Meta should be forced to divest apps to allow smaller social media companies to compete for consumers and ad dollars.

  • Zuckerberg's own words: Arguing Meta's services and privacy protections have suffered as a result of market dominance, the government plans to present a 2012 email in which Zuckerberg allegedly claimed the acquisition of Instagram came out of a desire to "neutralize a potential competitor," per NPR.
  • Meta's argument: Meta says that because regulators approved its acquisitions, the case "sends the message that no deal is ever truly final." The company argues it's competed fairly and faces fierce competition from YouTube, X, TikTok, and iMessage, but is now being punished for its runaway success, powered by innovation and aggression.
  • The trial: US District Judge James Boasberg will hear opening statements Monday in a trial expected to last seven to eight weeks and involve dozens of witnesses, including Zuckerberg and former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, per the BBC.
  • Shuffles: The trial kicks off days after the Senate confirmed a third FTC commissioner, Republican Mark Meador, per Fox Business. Trump previously fired the two Democrats on the five-seat commission, who'd expressed alarm at Zuckerberg's reported attempts at lobbying, per the BBC. The fired commissioners say their firings are illegal.
(More Meta stories.)

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