The long-awaited antitrust trial between Meta and the Federal Trade Commission kicked off on April 14th. Over about two months, DC District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg is hearing arguments about whether then-Facebook illegally monopolized the market for “personal social networking services” through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

By Jody Godoy WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Facebook parent Meta Platforms bought up nascent rivals Instagram and WhatsApp after its attempts to compete had failed, an attorney for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said at the beginning of a high-stakes trial in Washington on Monday,

WASHINGTON—Facebook parent Meta Platforms faces a high-stakes trial in Washington starting on Monday on claims it built an illegal social media monopoly by spending billions of dollars to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp, in a case where U.S. antitrust enforcers seek to unwind the deals.