Meta is a problematic business and more people should move to open platforms, but I have to agree with Ben Thompson’s take on the trial. It’s too late and too complicated to try to unwind the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions:

…both of those businesses were what they were in 2020 because of the investments that Facebook made in the intervening years; I think it is just fundamentally wrong to be re-litigating regulatory decisions of this nature years after the fact — and that certainly applies to 2025.

My last post to Instagram was 2017. My photos are now on my own blog where they belong.

@manton Wasn’t it too late to break up the phone company?

@markstoneman @bobschulties It’s a good point. Software monopolies are trickier to define because competition is easier, but Meta is still too big.

@manton I don’t think it’s too big at all. We have unregulated breakups all the time. Just look at General Electric. Much much bigger than Meta.

@manton In my NH town, I have choice in terms of general sociability across state and national boundaries; however, locally Facebook still enjoys a relative monopoly. I subscribe to the last remaining local newspaper here to counter this effect, but I forego a lot of local news by not using FB.

@manton competition would be easier if Facebook wasn’t using every dirty trick in the book to steal from its competitors. I’ll forever point to Onavo as the reason why Meta should be broken up. The acquisition was based on subterfuge.