FTC has uphill battle to win Meta antitrust trial, expert says

The Federal Trade Committee (FTC) may face an arduous battle in its issue to combat monopoly against Meta, where the agency and technological giant continues to put their arguments in the court.

The trial began on April 14, when FTC claimed that Meta “participated in anti -competition acquisitions to protect its dominant position” in personal social networks.

The agency’s lawsuit takes a special problem with the purchase of Meta for Instagram and WhatsApp and the technology company calls for stripping its work to “restore competition”.

These huge deals occurred in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

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FTC leads forward with a lawsuit against Meta, which has prominent applications like Instagram and WhatsApp. (Matt Cardy/Pavlo Gonchaar/SOPA/Lightroctty via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“After more than 10 years have passed since the FTC show and surveyed our acquisitions, the committee in this case sends a message that there is no truly final deal,” said a Meta spokesman in the period before the court.

In order for FTC to win its monopoly, which was placed under Article 2 of the Sherman Anti -monopoly law, it must prove pollution in the personal social networking market and the alleged monopoly competition, according to Daniel Caron, a prominent lawyer specializing in anti -monopoly claims.

“This will be a difficult side for HOE,” he told Fox News Digital.

Caron pointed out that Meta will continue to face the presence of Tiktok, YouTube and IMESSAGE from Apple, which means that Meta has not adhered to the social media market.

“You will simply fight FTC and Meta about what is the relevant market – interactive social media platforms only, which means that Meta controls the market,” he said. “Or all social media platforms, this means that meta does not.”

Moreover, Caron said that FTC will have to prove the alleged Meta monopoly of personal social networks that deprive advertisers of the benefits of competition, such as low advertising prices, increased choice, quality and innovation, and this raises consumer prices.

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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and American boycott judge James Boasberg in this divided picture side by side. Zuckerberg appeared before the court on Monday to testify in the FTC anti -monopoly case against his company. (Pictures via Getty Images) (Getty Images / Getty Images)

He added that FTC will continue to try to prove that Meta has been competing by providing lower levels of service, quality on privacy and data protection, which will provide it in a competitive market.

Meta mentioned that she does not believe that she controls the market; Therefore, these consequences derived from monopoly are not under scrutiny.

With the case, FTC seemed confident in its argument.

During his appearance on April 14 on “Al -Sabah with Maria”, the head of the Federal Trade Committee Andrew Ferguson said that President Donald Trump “started this lawsuit in 2020, and we see that day.”

He said: “At the end of the transactions, as you know, FTC does not remove transactions, as it tries to make a prediction about whether the treatment will be anti -competition.”

“But here, we have actual evidence that transactions turned out to be anti -competition and have given Facebook and Meta a huge amount of strength, and the power we have seen all of the full offer in 2020,” said Ferguson. “This is what this situation is about, is to address the identification power and make sure that the situation that we had in 2020 could not arise again.”

But as the trial was revealed, anti -monopoly experts and the media became less convinced.

A recent article from Washington examined that the “Crusade” in FTC against Meta contrasts with the “main parts” of the Trump administration agenda.

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Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Committee (FTC), outside the Federal Court in Washington, DC, the United States, on Monday, April 14, 2025. FTC argues that META purchases from Instagram and WhatsApp are “fatal acquisitions” that prevented that companion (Alison Robbart / Bloomberg via Getti Earth / Pictures)

“If all the friendly and Zucberg visits succeeded to pressure Trump for a legal settlement, we can deduce one of two things. Either Trump seeks to obtain more control over the so -called independent agencies, such as FTC by issuing direct policy decisions, or it is not from the same mind that the FTC Chairman is managed by the agency that moves full steam against Meta , “

The Wall Street Journal has also developed an inhibitor of the Federal Trade Committee’s argument, especially highlighting Ferguson’s claim that monopoly could be the same as a large government.

“Well, if Mr. Ferguson has evidence of action monopoly, he can move against it. But Meta faces competition from Tiktok, Snap, X.com, YouTube and others, and Mr. Ferguson will be of wisdom to drop the lawsuit before risk on charges of defeating the court.”

In the past few days, FTC has provided special messages, including an email for 2012, in which the CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg said that the purchase of Instagram will lead to “neutralizing the opponent.”

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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of META, attends a live registration plate in SECUPED, technology podcast, at the Chis Center in San Francisco, California, United States, September 10, 2024. (Reuters photos / Lauer Anderone / Reuters)

Zuckerberg said in another document 2018: “With the growth of calls to dismantle major technology companies, there is an unsuccessful opportunity to clarify us to wander around Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5 to 10 years in any case,” Zuckerberg said in another document 2018.

The main FTC lawyer, Daniel Matthekeon, says these messages and other correspondence constitute a “smoking pistol”.

But Caron said that this is a trial on the bench, Judge James Boasberg will decide the fate of dead.

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“It is one of Obama’s eyes that gets a significant decline from the Ministry of Justice with regard to deportation. Given that FTC, like Doj, is controlled by the Trump administration, Boasberg is likely to be difficult on FTC,” he told Fox News Digital.

“If this happens – and you root – the FTC case may be in trouble,” Karen continued.