The US competition watchdog is trying to break up social media giant Meta. It says Meta unfairly took over the market by buying Instagram and WhatsApp, many media outlets reported.
This news comes as a big antitrust trial started in a Washington federal court on Monday. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says Meta abused its power. It claims Meta followed a “buy-or-bury strategy” to kill rivals.
Meta owns Facebook. It bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The FTC first approved both deals. But now it says Zuckerberg paid too much — $1 billion for Instagram and $19 billion for WhatsApp — to stop fair competition.
If the court rules for the government, Meta may need to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. Experts say other big tech firms may also face more checks as pressure grows on the industry.
At the trial, FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson said Meta earned huge profits while users became less happy. The FTC showed old emails from 2011 and 2012. In one, Mark Zuckerberg called Instagram “growing quickly” and talked about buying it.
Matheson said a 2012 email where Zuckerberg talked about “neutralizing” Instagram was the “smoking gun.”
On Monday, Zuckerberg gave evidence. He said those emails were from “early talks” about the deal. He argued we made Instagram better after buying it.
On Tuesday, in more testimony, Zuckerberg said Meta bought Instagram because its camera was “better” than the one Meta was building.
Meta’s lawyers denied the FTC claims. They said Meta faces hard competition, including from China’s TikTok.
This case is part of a bigger push against Big Tech. It started during Donald Trump’s first term. The FTC first filed the case in 2020, but the court dismissed it six months later.
Since Trump came back to the White House, Zuckerberg has tried to improve ties with his team. It gave money to his inauguration and softened content rules. In January, Zuckerberg paid Trump $25 million to settle a lawsuit over his banned accounts after the 2021 Capitol riot. Zuckerberg also visited the White House recently.
The case could affect Meta’s 3.5 billion users who use Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. But experts say both sides will appeal. The court fight could last many years.
