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What to know about the FTC-Meta trial

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Meta have wrapped up a six-week trial over the Facebook and Instagram parent’s alleged social networking monopoly, leaving the final decision in the hands of the judge.

© Thibault Camus, Associated Press

The trial, which came to a close last week, seeks to determine whether Meta has a monopoly over personal social networking that the company entrenched with its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Here’s what to know about the trial and what comes next:

Full-circle moment for Trump administration

The FTC’s trial with Meta represented a full-circle moment for the second Trump administration, after the agency originally brought the case at the tail end of President Trump’s first administration.

The agency sued Meta, then known as Facebook, in December 2020. The case came as part of a push by the Trump administration to take aim at major tech firms, following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google.

Zuckerberg tries to settle, ends up on stand

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly courted Trump and White House officials to settle the case in the weeks leading up to the trial.

However, these efforts don’t appear to have paid dividends. The Meta CEO’s initial offer of $450 million was brushed aside, with the FTC demanding at least $18 billion and a consent decree, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Zuckerberg reportedly upped his offer to $1 billion, but to no avail. The Meta trial began mid-April, and the FTC immediately called Zuckerberg to the stand, where he spent three days facing questions.

Who is Meta’s competition?

At the heart of the trial is the FTC’s claim that Meta has a monopoly over personal social networking — a market that includes Meta’s apps, as well as Snapchat and MeWe and is centered on sharing between family and friends.

Meta has pushed back on this market definition, arguing it faces competition from a much broader swath of social media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, X and iMessage.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has seemed skeptical of the FTC’s proposed market, noted Geoffrey Manne, president and founder of the International Center for Law & Economics.

“The judge has expressed some reservations about the way the FTC is trying to demonstrate its market definition, but obviously the underlying issue is monopoly power,” Manne told The Hill.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com tomorrow.

© The Hill