Meta pushes back against FTC effort to revive monopoly-style allegations

Meta is contesting a Federal Trade Commission effort to revive monopoly-related charges in an ongoing dispute over how it operates Facebook and Instagram, according to reporting that summarizes a filing by the company.

Meta’s argument focuses in part on what users actually see on its platforms. The company told the court that content posted by friends is a relatively small portion of what appears in feeds, saying it is less than 15% of posts in Facebook’s news feed and about 5% on Instagram’s feed.

By highlighting those feed-share figures, Meta’s filing appears aimed at undermining the FTC’s theory that Meta’s distribution choices amount to anticompetitive control. The underlying point, as presented in the reporting, is that the FTC’s proposed framing of dominance does not align with the mix of content users encounter.

The dispute is being litigated in the context of the FTC’s broader push to impose or restore strong antitrust remedies in technology markets, where regulators have repeatedly argued that dominant platforms can shape competition through search, social graph access, and ad targeting, even after user behavior and platform features change.

Meta did not, in the reporting described here, lay out any detailed alternative remedy in response to the FTC’s request. What is clear from the cited filing is that Meta is challenging the FTC’s attempt to bring back the monopoly-related posture, rather than simply addressing particular product features.

Meta’s position also reflects a wider pattern in antitrust cases involving large platforms. Companies frequently argue that regulators overstate their control and that user choices and content supply diversify what appears on feeds, which they say limits the plausibility of monopoly-style claims.

For Meta, the outcome matters beyond this specific case because it can affect how regulators and courts interpret “control” in dynamic platforms where content flows come from many sources and ranking systems continuously evolve.

What remains uncertain from the available reporting is the exact procedural status of the FTC’s request, the specific monopoly theories the FTC is trying to reinstate, and whether the court will grant any motion at this stage.