The fate of social media giant Meta, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s primary company, is on the line as the trial begins in Washington to determine whether the mega-corporation is in violation of antitrust laws.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has spent the past six years investigating Meta, is expected to argue before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg that Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp locked in an illegal monopoly over social networking.
In Meta’s worst-case outcome, the company could be forced to sell both subsidiaries — a breakup on a scale the country hasn’t seen since the dismantling of AT&T’s telephone empire over 40 years ago.
Here’s what to know about the most important trial in Meta’s history.
It’s being held at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, just a few hundred yards from the U.S. Capitol.
It’s a bench trial, meaning Boasberg alone will decide the outcome—not a jury. That gives the judge extraordinary influence over the future of one of the most powerful companies in the world.
Boasberg, an Obama appointee, recently drew headlines for halting an administration deportation effort targeting Venezuelan gang members, prompting a call for his impeachment from President Donald Trump’s allies.
The FTC investigation into the company began during Trump’s first term and was aggressively pursued under President Joe Biden.
The FTC has taken issue with the company’s 2012 purchase of the images-based app Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp, a messaging platform that’s particularly popular outside of the United States.
During the trial, they’re expected to argue that Meta’s purchase of the two platforms came as part of a calculated effort to “buy or bury” any potential rivals to Facebook.
In one email presented by the FTC in a past federal court filing, Zuckerberg wrote, “It is better to buy than compete.”
Similar messages by Zuckerberg and others at the company are expected to also be presented during the trial.
If the FTC gets its way, Meta will be forced to sell both subsidiaries.
Meta has consistently denied the allegations of operating an illegal monopoly and has argued that the FTC’s case is both outdated and out of step with current market realities.
Christopher Sgro, a spokesperson for Meta, said in a statement to Politico the acquisitions were approved by regulators at the time and that the company has always operated competitively. He cited the presence of competitors like TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage, and others.
Sgro said the lawsuit “defies reality” and that it would send a message that “no deal is ever truly final” if Boasberg sides with the FTC.
The company has also suggested that dismantling its integrated platforms would harm users, who’ve come to rely on interconnected services and shared back-end systems.
Despite the case’s origins in Trump’s first term, there are questions now about whether the president may intervene to stop the case.
In recent months, Zuckerberg has sought a rapprochement with Trump and the GOP. Since the election, he’s visited Mar-a-Lago, ended the company’s controversial fact-checking efforts, rolled back diversity and inclusion programs, and staffed the company with GOP-friendly executives.
Andrew Ferguson, a conservative legal figure, has said that his agency is “raring to go” against Meta—but also that he’ll follow lawful orders from the president to close the case.
There’s speculation Trump could step in and push for a settlement mid-trial — or at the very least, soften the blow if Meta loses.
Boasberg has heard years of pretrial motions in this case and has made clear he isn’t fully sold on the government’s argument.
He threw out the FTC’s original filing in 2021, citing a lack of clear market definitions. And while he allowed the revised case to proceed, he’s continued to express skepticism, warning in recent months that the FTC’s claims “strain this country’s creaking antitrust precedents.”
Antitrust statutory law and litigation are among the most labyrinthine in the federal code. Application of these to a company of Meta’s size is a difficult sell.
Still, Boasberg has given both sides a chance to make their case in court. Witness lists include Zuckerberg himself, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, and execs from rival platforms like TikTok and Snapchat.
The trial is expected to last through the summer, with a decision potentially arriving by July.
—Joseph Lord
BOOKMARKS
Trump’s physical examination showed the president is in “excellent health,” The Epoch Times’ Jacob Burg reported. It’s the 78-year-old’s first such check-up since reclaiming the White House.
Some electronics, including smartphones and computers, will fall under separate tariff plans according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The Epoch Times’ Jacob Burg reported that items excluded from reciprocal tariffs include smartphones, computers, servers, laptops, tablets, motherboards, and processors.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the tourist helicopter involved in a crash that killed six in New York lacked flight recorders, The Epoch Times’ Jacob Burg reported. “No onboard video recorders or camera recorders have been recovered, and none of the helicopter avionics onboard recorded information that could be used for the investigation,” the NTSB wrote.
The second Natal Conference in Austin, Texas attracted 200 attendees interested in addressing declining birth rates. The Epoch Times’ Nathan Worcester attended the conference, where pessimism, though not despair, hung in the air as the ‘tech right’ and traditionalists tackled a challenge that can sink civilizations.
