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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Guardian staff and agency

Meta wins major US antitrust case and won’t have to break off WhatsApp or Instagram

Meta Instagram WhatsApp United States FTC James Boasberg TikTok Social Networking Google
a meta logo on a building
The lawsuit was an existential threat to Meta, whose Instagram social network generates half of its revenue. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Meta defeated a major challenge to its business on Tuesday when a US judge ruled that the company does not hold a monopoly in social networking.

The case, brought by the US Federal Trade Commission, could have forced the tech giant to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp, with the former FTC chair accusing the company of operating a “buy or bury” scheme against nascent competitors. The tech giant bought WhatsApp for $19bn in 2014. Losing either the image-based social network, which generates an estimated half of Meta’s revenue, or the world’s most popular messaging app could have done existential damage to Meta’s empire.

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