Mark Zuckerberg testified in a Washington, D.C., court on Monday in defense of Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, countering the Federal Trade Commission’s sweeping antitrust claim by saying you can’t have a monopoly when your competition is TikTok, YouTube and other thriving social giants.
Zuckerberg argued from the stand that Meta operates in a competitive landscape, facing stiff winds against some of the world’s biggest platforms, including iMessage, according to multiple media reports. He also said the FTC’s market definition is too narrow and doesn’t account for broader entertainment and communication services that users engage with today.
“Our acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were reviewed and approved by regulators, and they have benefited consumers,” Zuckerberg said.
One bit of evidence FTC lawyers presented was internal emails in which Zuckerberg referred to Instagram as a “threat,” suggesting its acquisition was aimed at neutralizing potential competition. Zuckerberg acknowledged those communications, but maintained that the acquisitions were lawful and approved by regulators at the time.
The federal trial poses a significant risk to the $1.37 trillion tech juggernaut Zuckerberg has built. Since 2004, Zuckerberg has steadily amassed a social media empire that has stamped out competitors and violated antitrust law, the FTC has argued, due to its $1 billion purchase of Instagram in 2012 and its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.
Meta has consistently fought back against the FTC’s antitrust claims, which the company said are “weak” in a blog post from Jennifer Newstead, its chief legal officer, on Sunday.
The trial, in which federal regulators are seeking to force Meta to sell its biggest assets that aren’t Facebook itself, is expected to last up to eight weeks.
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