Meta scores a win after judge rules the social media giant is not an illegal monopoly

A man takes a selfie in front of a sign of Meta, the new name for the company formerly known as Facebook, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S. October 28, 2021. Carlos Barria/Reuters New York —

Meta scored a major win on Tuesday after a federal judge ruled that it is not a social networking monopoly, shooting down an argument from the US Federal Trade Commission that it should be forced to spin off two of its most popular platforms.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Meta in 2020, accusing it of violating antitrust law by acquiring nascent, would-be rivals Instagram and WhatsApp to avoid having to compete with them. The seven-week trial in the case saw testimony from a series of prominent figures, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who argued that the company has