The FTC says it will appeal Meta’s antitrust loss

The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that it will appeal its loss in the landmark antitrust case against Meta.

U.S. District Judge James Bosberg ruled in November that the government He failed to prove that Meta had an illegal monopoly Via a subset of social networking services dedicated to communicating with friends and family online. Boasberg wrote that the government fought an “uphill battle” in how to define the market that Meta allegedly dominates, a challenge that was exacerbated by the rise of TikTok and changes in the market over the five years between the FTC filing the case and going to trial.

The FTC is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. to review Boasberg’s decision, and says evidence from the six-week trial proves its case. The government argued that Meta maintained its monopoly on the personal social networking market — which it said included services like Snapchat and MeWe, but not TikTok or YouTube — by acquiring emerging threats Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC argued that Meta’s dominance allowed it to deteriorate the quality of its services without any real alternatives for consumers to turn to.

“The American economy thrives when competition thrives and American businesses compete fairly against each other,” Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “Yet, Meta has maintained its dominant position and record profits for more than a decade, not through legitimate competition, but by purchasing its most significant competitive threats. The Trump-Vance FTC will continue to fight its landmark case against Meta to ensure that competition flourishes across the country to the benefit of all Americans and American businesses.”