FTC tries to un-Zuck Meta's grip on the market by dragging it back to court
(2026/01/21)
- Reference: 1769001030
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/21/ftc_to_drag_meta_back/
- Source link:
The Federal Trade Commission has doubled down on its belief that Meta maintained a monopoly of social networking by anticompetitive conduct, appealing last year's district court victory for Zuck and co.
The FTC first brought its case back in [1]December 2020 , alleging "the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct."
US watchdog pokes Facebook a second time: Meta faces fresh monopoly lawsuit [2]READ MORE
That "conduct" included snapping up potential rivals such as [3]Instagram and [4]WhatsApp , as well as imposing "anticompetitive conditions on software developers." At the time, the FTC demanded divestitures of assets, including those acquisitions, and removing the "anticompetitive conditions" on devs.
However last November, district judge [5]James Boasberg ruled that "Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market," citing a constantly changing social media ecosystem and noted that Meta’s market share "seems to be shrinking."
He also noted that the FTC had approved the Insta and WhatsApp buys.
[6]
In a statement yesterday, the [7]FTC confirmed it "continues to allege, and robust evidence at trial demonstrated, that for over a decade Meta has illegally maintained a monopoly in personal social networking services through anticompetitive conduct."
[8]
[9]
FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera said: "The Trump-Vance FTC will continue fighting its historic case against Meta to ensure that competition can thrive across the country to the benefit of all Americans and US businesses."
The original case was brought after the November 2020 election and before the inauguration of Joe Biden.
[10]UK gambling regulator accuses Meta of lying about its struggle to spot illegal ads
[11]Meta retreats from metaverse after virtual reality check
[12]Zuck forms Meta Compute to pave the planet with 'hundreds of gigawatts' of AI datacenters
[13]Zuck buys Chinese AI company Manus that claims it deals in actions, not words
[14]Meta can't afford its $600B love letter to Trump
Donald Trump was [15]banned from Meta's platforms , amongst others, following the Capitol Hill riot. Republicans have, in the past, railed against the perceived liberal bias of Silicon Valley based platforms, like Meta. And Trump has his own platform – albeit at arm's length – in the shape of Truth Social.
But that's all water under the bridge. Trump has since been reinstated to Meta, and other platforms. Meanwhile Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg was amongst the tech titans who [16]attended Trump's inauguration and picked up the tab. While simultaneously [17]ditching DEI .
[18]
Earlier this month, Dina Powell McCormick joined Meta as president and vice chairman. McCormick was previously a board member at the firm, and her CV includes stints as deputy national security advisor in Trump's first administration, as well as time in the Bush administration in the early 2000s. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/facebook_crushed_competitors_to_maintain/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/12/ftcs_antitrust_meta/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2012/08/15/facebook_acquisition_instagram_oft/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2014/02/20/facebook_whatsapp_19bn_buy_also_45_for_your_phonebook/
[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crklgrpdke8o
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/01/ftc-appeals-ruling-meta-monopolization-case
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/20/uk_gambling_comission_criticizes_meta/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/meta_quest_horizon_workrooms/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/12/meta_compute/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/30/meta_acquires_manus/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/08/meta_cant_afford_its_600b/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/07/social_media_trump/
[16] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgpqeq82rvo
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/13/diversity_equity_inclusion_tech/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The FTC first brought its case back in [1]December 2020 , alleging "the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct."
US watchdog pokes Facebook a second time: Meta faces fresh monopoly lawsuit [2]READ MORE
That "conduct" included snapping up potential rivals such as [3]Instagram and [4]WhatsApp , as well as imposing "anticompetitive conditions on software developers." At the time, the FTC demanded divestitures of assets, including those acquisitions, and removing the "anticompetitive conditions" on devs.
However last November, district judge [5]James Boasberg ruled that "Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market," citing a constantly changing social media ecosystem and noted that Meta’s market share "seems to be shrinking."
He also noted that the FTC had approved the Insta and WhatsApp buys.
[6]
In a statement yesterday, the [7]FTC confirmed it "continues to allege, and robust evidence at trial demonstrated, that for over a decade Meta has illegally maintained a monopoly in personal social networking services through anticompetitive conduct."
[8]
[9]
FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera said: "The Trump-Vance FTC will continue fighting its historic case against Meta to ensure that competition can thrive across the country to the benefit of all Americans and US businesses."
The original case was brought after the November 2020 election and before the inauguration of Joe Biden.
[10]UK gambling regulator accuses Meta of lying about its struggle to spot illegal ads
[11]Meta retreats from metaverse after virtual reality check
[12]Zuck forms Meta Compute to pave the planet with 'hundreds of gigawatts' of AI datacenters
[13]Zuck buys Chinese AI company Manus that claims it deals in actions, not words
[14]Meta can't afford its $600B love letter to Trump
Donald Trump was [15]banned from Meta's platforms , amongst others, following the Capitol Hill riot. Republicans have, in the past, railed against the perceived liberal bias of Silicon Valley based platforms, like Meta. And Trump has his own platform – albeit at arm's length – in the shape of Truth Social.
But that's all water under the bridge. Trump has since been reinstated to Meta, and other platforms. Meanwhile Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg was amongst the tech titans who [16]attended Trump's inauguration and picked up the tab. While simultaneously [17]ditching DEI .
[18]
Earlier this month, Dina Powell McCormick joined Meta as president and vice chairman. McCormick was previously a board member at the firm, and her CV includes stints as deputy national security advisor in Trump's first administration, as well as time in the Bush administration in the early 2000s. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/facebook_crushed_competitors_to_maintain/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/12/ftcs_antitrust_meta/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2012/08/15/facebook_acquisition_instagram_oft/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2014/02/20/facebook_whatsapp_19bn_buy_also_45_for_your_phonebook/
[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crklgrpdke8o
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/01/ftc-appeals-ruling-meta-monopolization-case
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/20/uk_gambling_comission_criticizes_meta/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/meta_quest_horizon_workrooms/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/12/meta_compute/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/30/meta_acquires_manus/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/08/meta_cant_afford_its_600b/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/07/social_media_trump/
[16] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgpqeq82rvo
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/13/diversity_equity_inclusion_tech/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXEGOBdzBnmiQlgA9oKAKgAAAdg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Like a badger
Surely it's simply that he hasn't paid the Trump tithe?
Yet Another Anonymous coward
Why doesn't he just buy the FTC from Musk ?
It sounds as if Zuck hasn't grovelled enough.