In a significant legal victory for the tech giant, a US federal judge has dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Meta, ruling that the company does not hold a monopoly in the social media market.
Court Rejects FTC's Monopoly Claims
Judge James Boasberg of the federal district court in Washington delivered the landmark decision on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, concluding that Meta faces robust competition from platforms like TikTok and YouTube. The ruling represents a major setback for US antitrust regulators who have been intensifying efforts to rein in Big Tech companies.
The FTC had accused Meta of illegally maintaining its dominance through strategic acquisitions, specifically pointing to the company's purchase of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The regulatory body argued that these deals were deliberately designed to neutralize competitive threats in the social media landscape.
Changing Social Media Landscape
Judge Boasberg emphasized that the social media ecosystem has evolved significantly since the FTC initially filed the case in December 2020. The court noted that Facebook and Instagram have transformed into platforms dominated by short-form videos similar to TikTok's format, making them direct competitors in the current market.
"Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have thus evolved to have nearly identical main features," the judge stated in his ruling. He cited compelling data showing that users now treat these platforms as substitutes, spending the majority of their time consuming AI-recommended "Reels" rather than content from friends.
The court highlighted striking statistics: users now spend only 17% of their time on Facebook viewing content from friends, and just 7% on Instagram for similar personal connections.
Broader Implications for Big Tech Regulation
This dismissal marks the latest in a series of challenges for US antitrust regulators. The FTC and Justice Department have launched five major cases against technology companies in recent years, including two against Google and separate actions targeting Apple and Amazon.
The ruling comes just months after another federal judge rejected a government request to break up Google's search business, despite finding that it operated as an illegal monopoly. These consecutive legal setbacks indicate the increasing difficulty regulators face in proving monopoly cases against technology companies in rapidly evolving digital markets.
Legal experts suggest that the court's recognition of TikTok and YouTube as direct competitors to Meta's platforms could set an important precedent for future antitrust cases in the technology sector, potentially making it more challenging for regulators to establish monopoly power in dynamic digital markets.
