Your Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp data goes to one company — feds say that’s too much power over your life

FTC appeals its November loss against Meta

The Federal Trade Commission is not done fighting Meta.

On Jan. 20, 2026, the agency filed an appeal challenging a November 2025 ruling that cleared the tech giant of antitrust charges. The case now heads to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The FTC argues Meta built an illegal monopoly in social networking by buying up its biggest threats.

FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera said the agency will keep fighting the case on behalf of all Americans.

This lawsuit started back in 2020

The FTC first sued Meta, then called Facebook, on Dec. 8, 2020. Forty-six states joined the original lawsuit.

The case started during the first Trump administration, continued under Biden, and now the second Trump administration is carrying it forward.

A judge tossed the first complaint in June 2021, saying the FTC did not have enough evidence. The agency came back two months later with a stronger version, and the case moved ahead.

Two big deals sit at the center

The whole case comes down to two purchases: Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for about $1 billion and WhatsApp in 2014 for about $19 billion.

The FTC says those deals were designed to wipe out rising competitors instead of competing with them fairly. Here’s the catch: federal regulators reviewed and approved both deals at the time.

The FTC later argued those approvals were a mistake and asked the court to undo them.

Zuckerberg testified on day one

A six-week trial played out in spring 2025 in Washington, D.C., before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on the very first day, April 14, 2025.

Former Meta operating chief Sheryl Sandberg, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, and other current and former executives also testified.

The FTC pointed to Meta’s massive user base as evidence that consumers had no real alternatives.

The judge said the FTC fell short

On Nov. 18, 2025, Judge Boasberg ruled in Meta’s favor.

He found the FTC failed to prove Meta holds monopoly power right now, not just that it may have held it years ago.

Boasberg said TikTok and YouTube are real competitors that people treat as alternatives to Facebook and Instagram.

The FTC had pushed a narrow market definition that only included Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and a small platform called MeWe. The judge rejected that view.

Social media looks different now

Judge Boasberg pointed out that social media has changed a lot since 2020.

TikTok did not even come up in the two earlier court opinions on this case, but by 2025, it had become Meta’s top rival.

The whole industry has shifted away from posts about friends and family toward short-form video driven by algorithms.

Meta itself changed Facebook and Instagram to focus more on suggested video content, making them look a lot more like TikTok and YouTube.

Meta says the court got it right

A Meta spokesperson said the ruling was correct and reflects how much competition the company faces today. The company said it plans to stay focused on innovating and investing in America.

Even if a breakup were ordered, it would be extremely difficult to pull off.

Meta has spent years weaving together the behind-the-scenes technology that runs Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Separating them at this point would be a massive technical challenge.

The FTC says the judge made errors

The FTC maintains Meta broke antitrust laws when it bought Instagram and WhatsApp.

A senior FTC official said the judge took an unusual approach by basing his ruling only on Meta’s market position at the time of trial.

The official called this a major error that let Meta avoid accountability for past actions. The appeal will ask the D.C. Circuit to take a fresh look at how the lower court measured Meta’s market power.

A win could mean breaking up Meta

If the appeals court sides with the FTC, the case could go back for a new trial, or the ruling could be reversed outright.

In the most extreme scenario, a court could order Meta to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp as separate companies.

That kind of breakup could change how the apps work together, how user data flows between them, and what choices people have. The case could also eventually reach the Supreme Court.

Users won’t notice anything yet

For now, nothing changes for the roughly 3 billion people who use Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

If a breakup ever happened, the apps could become independent companies with separate ownership and possibly different features.

People might see changes in how their accounts, messages, and data work across the three platforms. But any major shifts are likely years away, no matter how the appeal turns out.

Other tech giants face similar fights

The Meta case is one of several big antitrust lawsuits the government has brought against major tech companies in recent years.

In separate cases, courts found Google holds illegal monopolies in both internet search and online advertising. Apple and Amazon face their own government antitrust suits as well.

How the Meta appeal plays out could shape how aggressively the government challenges tech mergers going forward.

The appeals court could rule by 2027

The FTC will file its legal arguments in the coming months, and Meta will respond after that. The D.C. Circuit could hear oral arguments later in 2026, though no official date has been set.

A decision could come in late 2026 or 2027. If the FTC loses again, it could ask the Supreme Court to take the case.

For now, both sides are preparing for the next round.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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