Meta (formerly known as Facebook) has come out on top of a lawsuit from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that the company should not have been allowed to acquire WhatsApp or Instagram, and furthermore that these assets constituted a monopoly in social media. However, a Washington DC District Court judge did not agree with the FTC and will not force Meta to divest from the WhatsApp and Instagram platforms. The outcome of the Meta and the FTC’s case was announced this week, with Judge James Boasberg of the U. S. District Court in Washington, D. C. ruling that the FTC had failed to prove its case. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 and originally dismissed in 2021 with the judge ruling that FTC didn’t have enough evidence to prove Meta had a monopoly. The FTC filed an amended complaint that allowed the case to proceed in 2022, but this week ends with the ruling coming out similar to its 2021 outcome, as Judge Boasberg shared in his remarks: Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, and WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. These apps have remained a major part of Meta’s social media empire since, with the company claiming that its family of apps attract over 3. 29 billion daily active users as of Q3 2024.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146875/meta-ftc-lawsuit-whatsapp-instagram
Facebook (META) wins lawsuit against FTC, avoiding divestment of WhatsApp & Instagram
