Overview
- U.S. District Judge James Boasberg threw out the FTC’s case on November 18 in an 89-page opinion issued in Washington, D.C.
- The court rejected the FTC’s narrow market definition of “personal social networking” and found today’s landscape includes strong rivals such as TikTok and YouTube.
- The ruling denied the request to force Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, concluding the agency did not show that unwinding decade-old acquisitions was necessary.
- Filed in 2020, the case proceeded to a multiweek trial supported by hundreds of internal documents and testimony from Mark Zuckerberg and other executives.
- Meta said the decision recognizes fierce competition, while the FTC expressed deep disappointment and said it is reviewing its options.