The FTC claimed that with Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and a much smaller app called MeWe, Meta owns nearly 80% of active users in the market. Replying to this, Zuckerberg claimed to have made the platforms have evolved from friends and family, and toward “a broad discovery-entertainment platform”.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Meta
Will Mark Zuckerberg-owned giants Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp be broken into many smaller companies? Has their parent company, Meta violated US laws and engaged in “illegal monopolisation”? Did it adopt the “buy or bury” policy by buying out competitors? Did Meta buy Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion and WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion to end competition? These and many other questions were asked after Mark Zuckerberg appeared at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Will FTC set precedence?
The case that was brought to the federal court in 2020 could come to an end soon, and the $1.4 trillion firm could be split into many smaller companies. Telecom giant AT&T was wound up four decades ago on similar charges. The FTC could set a new precedence by splitting the tech giant. It may come at a time when many tech companies have accepted the dictates of US President Donald Trump by stopping diversity hires and fact checks.
What did Mark Zuckerberg say before buying Instagram?
Standing in the witness box, Zuckerberg was asked about the email he had sent years ago before he bought Instagram. The FTC asked him about emails like “Instagram seems like it’s growing quickly” and the company was “so far behind that we don’t even understand how far behind we are… I worry that it will take us too long to catch up”.
However, the FTC claimed that with Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and a much smaller app called MeWe, Meta owns nearly 80% of active users in the market. Replying to this, Zuckerberg claimed to have made the platforms have evolved from friends and family, and toward “more of a broad discovery-entertainment space”.
Meta faces serious repercussions as in the complaint filed to the FTC it was claimed that “Facebook executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, quickly recognised that Instagram was a vibrant and innovative personal social network and an existential threat to Facebook’s monopoly power.” It was also said that “Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion in April 2012 allegedly both neutralises the direct threat posed by Instagram and makes it more difficult for another personal social networking competitor to gain scale.”
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