• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 3, 2025

Meta Platforms' monopoly in the "personal social networking services" market enabled the company "to increase ad load and reap supracompetitive profits," which in turn enabled it to amass enough money to quash potential competitors, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

"The court should find Meta liable for unlawfully maintaining its monopoly power," the FTC writes in legal memorandum filed Wednesday with U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg in the District of Columbia.

The FTC's new memo comes in a battle with Meta dating to December 2020, when the agency alleged that Meta's acquisition of Instagram (purchased for $1 billion in 2012) and (bought for $19 billion in 2014) enabled the company to maintain a monopoly.

The agency claimed both purchases were part of an illegal “buy-or-bury scheme” that allowed the platform to preserve its dominance in the “personal social networking market.”

The FTC reviewed both acquisitions when they were announced and allowed them to close.

If the agency prevails with its antitrust argument, it could seek an order requiring Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

After more than four years of legal wrangling, the case went to trial this spring. At trial, Meta disputed that it has a monopoly, reportedly arguing that it competes with other apps, including TikTok and YouTube.

The FTC counters in its new filing that Facebook and Instagram serve different "core purposes" than TikTok or YouTube, arguing that Facebook and Instagram focus on connecting users with friends and family, but TikTok and YouTube are focused on entertainment.

The agency also argues that Meta made its services worse for consumers by increasing the ad loads in Facebook and Instagram -- moves the FTC argues were "consistent with a monopolist."

The agency elaborates that Meta more than tripled Facebook feed's ad load between the third quarter of 2014 and January of this year, and that the company increased Instagram's ad load in 2015 and 2018.

"Meta was able to raise ad load on Instagram, knowing that if the degraded experience drove users to Facebook, Meta would still benefit," the FTC argues. "Meta has also raised ad load dramatically on Facebook, using its control (and increases) in Instagram’s ad load to sustain Facebook’s higher ad load."

Boasberg hasn't yet said when he will issue a decision.