Federal judge rules Meta not a social networking monopoly

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the social technology company Meta does not hold a monopoly in the “personal social networking” (PSN) market, in the antitrust case Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms, Inc . Meta will therefore not have to sell its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia stated in a memorandum opinion that “[w]hile it once might have made sense to partition apps into separate markets of social networking and social media, the wall has since broken down.” He said that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has “struggled to fix the boundaries of Meta’s product market” and consequently failed to establish that Meta has a monopoly. He highlighted the significant changes in the market