Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified on Monday in a high-profile antitrust trial in Washington, defending the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims Meta bought these companies to eliminate potential competition in the social media market.
The FTC is pushing for Meta to restructure or even sell Instagram and WhatsApp, arguing that Meta holds a monopoly on platforms used to connect friends and family. If the FTC succeeds, it could significantly impact Meta’s business, particularly Instagram, which generates over half of its U.S. advertising revenue.
Zuckerberg denied the allegations, explaining that Instagram and WhatsApp were acquired to expand Meta’s offerings, not to stifle competition. He noted that Facebook’s priority was not just to connect users with friends, but also to help them discover new content.
In his testimony, Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook initially misunderstood how users were shifting towards private messages instead of posting updates publicly. “We misunderstood how social engagement online was evolving,” he said. Today, only about 20% of content on Facebook and 10% on Instagram comes from users’ friends, with the rest from other sources.
The FTC argues that Meta’s purchases of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 were meant to neutralize competitors, citing emails where Zuckerberg discussed these apps as potential threats to Facebook’s dominance. However, Meta counters that these acquisitions benefited users and that competition from apps like TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat makes the situation more complex.
The trial, which could last until July, will center on whether Instagram and WhatsApp are essential to Meta’s dominance in social media. If the FTC wins, it will need to show that forcing Meta to sell these apps would restore competition. A ruling against Meta, especially concerning Instagram, could have serious financial consequences, as Instagram generates substantial ad revenue and is Meta’s most profitable platform.
This case is part of a broader effort by U.S. regulators to take on Big Tech companies, a trend that began during the Trump administration.
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