A federal judge will decide in the coming months whether to break up Meta Platforms Inc. (Nasdaq: META), following a seven-week antitrust trial that concluded in late May with the tech giant having already paid more than $8 billion in privacy-related settlements.
Federal regulators want Meta to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp, claiming the company illegally maintained a social media monopoly through strategic acquisitions rather than competition.
Read: Antitrust Trial Begins as FTC Challenges Meta’s Acquisition Strategy
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The case centers on Meta’s $1 billion purchase of Instagram in 2012 and $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. FTC lawyers cited internal emails from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, including one where he wrote he sought to “neutralize a potential competitor” before acquiring Instagram.
But according to digital privacy advocate Jason Kint, newly filed pretrial briefs reveal broader allegations of what court documents describe as “wrongdoing on a truly colossal scale.” Kint, who has been analyzing court filings, said the documents allege that Facebook executives knew about massive data breaches years before they became public, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal that exposed 87 million users’ data.
The court filings indicate Facebook’s audit committee discussed Cambridge Analytica as early as December 2017, with management allegedly stating that Facebook gave the firm non-public data for research and psychographic targeting, according to Kint’s analysis. The documents suggest executives were aware of data sharing practices that violated user agreements.
Both sides were given four months from the trial’s May conclusion to file written arguments before US District Judge James Boasberg issues a ruling.
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Meta has denied wrongdoing, contending it operates in a competitive landscape with platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Apple’s iMessage. The company contends the FTC’s definition of “personal social networking” artificially excludes major competitors.
The trial represents the most serious legal threat Meta has faced since its founding. If the FTC prevails, the company could be forced to operate Instagram and WhatsApp as separate entities, potentially disrupting its integrated advertising business model.
The company has paid $5 billion to the FTC for privacy violations, $725 million for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and $1.4 billion to Texas, among other settlements totaling over $8.3 billion.
The case, originally filed during the first Trump administration, continued under President Biden and now awaits resolution under Trump’s second term. Legal experts say the outcome could set a precedent for future big tech regulation.
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