For once, Meta Platform Inc‘s (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn't need a moonshot AI reveal or a fresh metaverse pitch to win the biggest fight of the year. All he needed was TikTok — and a five-year-old political U-turn from President Donald Trump.
- Track META stock here.
On Tuesday, Judge James Boasberg blew up the FTC's monopoly case against Meta, ruling that the company isn't the social-media supervillain regulators painted it to be. Not because Meta suddenly became humble, but because the FTC must prove Meta is a monopoly today — and today's biggest counterexample is the app Trump nearly banned.
The TikTok Twist Only Washington Could Script
Back in 2020, Trump pushed a "ban-or-sell" order that would have kicked TikTok out of the U.S. market. Then he reversed course, later saying banning TikTok would "help Facebook too much." That call kept TikTok alive — and this week, it became the backbone of Meta's courtroom victory.
Judge Boasberg leaned heavily on TikTok's survival, ruling that TikTok and YouTube offer "nearly identical" features to Facebook and Instagram. His blunt conclusion: "TikTok alone" is enough to defeat the FTC's monopoly argument.
If TikTok thrives, Meta cannot be a monopoly — a legal logic chain made possible entirely because Trump kept the app in the country.
Related: Meta Wins FTC Antitrust Case, Not A Social Media Monopoly
What Meta Investors Should Really Take Away
For investors, this is the kind of regulatory twist that reshapes a stock narrative quietly. Meta just dodged the breakup threat that's shadowed it since 2020, removing the biggest structural risk to the business.
Yet the stock barely moved. Wall Street seems more focused on AI spending, global regulators and the sustained pressure from TikTok — the same competitor that saved Meta in court.
Tuesday's decision makes one thing crystal clear: Meta's biggest legal victory arrived courtesy of a political move Trump made to avoid helping Meta in the first place. In Washington's tech wars, even the unintended consequences can turn into billion-dollar lifelines.
Read Next:
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
