Is Meta a Monopoly? What to Know About the FTC's Antitrust Case

Meta is back in court this week, and it's a throwback to the company's early days. This week CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in an antitrust case brought by the Federal Trade Commission concerning the company's 2012 and 2014 acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, respectively. In the 2010s, Facebook was a big player in social media, but it wasn't the tech empire that Meta is today. Part of what made the company such a powerhouse was its timely purchase of Instagram for $1 billion. But that may have had a chilling effect on the social media landscape and boxed out competitors, according to the FTC's case. "Facebook's course of conduct has eliminated nascent rivals," the first complaint for injunctive relief reads. By doing that, US social media users didn't have "the benefits of competition, including increased choice, quality, and innovation." That claim is key in antitrust cases like these. Antitrust cases typically allege that companies are monopolizing a market, which can drive ou ... Read full article.