On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission formally filed a notice of appeal with the DC Circuit Court challenging US District Judge James Boasberg’s November decision to dismiss its antitrust lawsuit against Meta. The FTC contends that Judge Boasberg erred by focusing only on Meta’s competitive position at trial instead of evaluating the company’s conduct over a multi-year period. According to Joe Simonson, the agency’s director of public affairs, Meta’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp unlawfully cemented a social media monopoly, harming American consumers by reducing innovation and choice in the market.

In his ruling, Judge Boasberg highlighted robust competition from TikTok and YouTube, noting that algorithm-driven short-form videos now dominate user engagement on Facebook and Instagram. Citing internal data, the court observed that only 17% of time spent on Facebook is devoted to friends’ posts, while Instagram users allocate a mere 7% of their session viewing content from their network. Instead, both platforms see a majority of usage in ‘‘Reels’’ and similar features, which the judge described as ‘‘nearly identical in format’’ to TikTok’s core offering, undermining the FTC’s monopoly claims.

A senior FTC official, speaking anonymously, criticized the decision’s temporal limitation, arguing that evaluating Meta’s market power solely at trial ‘‘swept misconduct under the rug.’’ The official stressed that a broader historical lens would reveal how Meta’s acquisitions and integration strategies systematically raised barriers to entry for emerging competitors. Investors may view this critique as signaling the agency’s intent to press for stricter antitrust remedies and heightened merger scrutiny across the tech sector.

The FTC’s appeal arrives amid a series of high-stakes antitrust battles against major technology firms. Since 2020, enforcers have launched five significant suits, including two against Google and actions targeting Apple and Amazon. Last month, the Department of Justice appealed a separate ruling rejecting its bid to break up Google’s search business. A victory for the FTC in the Meta case could embolden regulators, potentially accelerating merger reviews and enforcement actions that investors will need to monitor closely for their impact on valuations and competitive dynamics in the digital advertising and social media markets.