A blockbuster antitrust trial kicks off today between Meta and the Federal Trade Commission.

The government alleges the company, which was then called Facebook, monopolized the social media market

when it purchased competitors' Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp two years later.

Stephanie Sigh is here to explore the potential impact of the trial. Stephanie?

William, the trial, which is expected to last up to two months, could have major implications

for big tech. If the social media giant loses, it could be forced to break itself apart

and sell off both of those popular platforms, including Instagram, which is projected to make up more than half of the

company's ad revenue this year. To help us understand the issues, we're joined now by Rebecca

Allensworth, Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University. Rebecca, thanks so much for joining the

News Hour. This is a case that has been years in the making, and we know what the major

battle lines already

are. The government alleges that META used a strategy to buy or bury other startups, killing

competition. Does the FTC have a strong case on that basis that META has violated antitrust

law? So it has a strong case on that part of the case about whether or not

the acquisitions suppressed competition. The weakest part of its case is actually whether or not

Facebook is a monopoly in the first place, whether or not meta is a monopoly. It has to prove both

monopoly power and an act of exclusion that allowed it to maintain that monopoly power.

But the problem for the government is that there are potentially other competitors that we

could see as major players in this space.

Mehta's lawyer today called the case a grab bag that was, quote, at war with the facts

and the law.

We heard that Mark Zuckerberg himself testified today.

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