Zuckerberg downplays Meta’s alleged abuse of power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp [VIDEO]

Meta chief and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has downplayed email exchanges about Meta allegedly abusing its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors.

Zuckerberg took the stand Monday in a landmark US antitrust trial to defend his company against allegations that it illegally monopolised the social media market.

Accusations

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Meta of stifling competition by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp.

The outcome of the case could potentially force Meta to spin off two of its biggest platforms and set a powerful new standard for how tech mergers are handled.

@abc7chicago Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on Monday in a historic antitrust trial that could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups it bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses. #meta #facebook ♬ original sound – abc7chicago

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Social media monopoly

FTC attorney Daniel Matheson called Zuckerberg as the first witness, as it seeks to prove that Meta acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to preserve its monopoly in the social networking space.

At the trial, Matheson focused on a communication sent to colleagues that illustrated Zuckerberg’s frustration with a lack of progress on developing a photo-sharing app to compete with Instagram.

“The way I read this message is that I’m not happy about how we’re executing on that project,” Zuckerberg said.

Frustration

Matheson followed up by asking if that was because of Instagram’s rapid growth.

“That does seem to be what I’m highlighting,” Zuckerberg said, adding that he’s always urging his teams to do better.

AFP reported that later, Zuckerberg appeared frustrated when Matheson asked him about his concerns about how fast Instagram was growing.

“I don’t have the full timeline of Instagram’s development in my head,” Zuckerberg said, when Matheson asked him about his mention of its growth. “You could probably get that better from somebody else.”

‘Grab bag’

In opening statements, Matheson said Meta has used its position to generate enormous profits even as consumer satisfaction has dropped. He said Meta was “erecting a moat” to protect its interests by buying the two startups.

Mark Hansen, an attorney for Meta, said the FTC was making a “grab bag” of arguments that were wrong. He said Meta has plenty of competition and has made improvements to the startups it acquired.

“This lawsuit, in summary, is misguided,” Hansen said, adding: “anyway you look at it, consumers have been the big winners.”

Trump and big tech

The trial will be the first big test of US President Donald Trump’s Federal Trade Commission’s ability to challenge Big Tech.

The lawsuit was filed against Meta – then called Facebook – in 2020, during Trump’s first term.

It claims the company bought Instagram and WhatsApp to squash competition and establish an illegal monopoly in the social media market.

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