Zuckerberg US antitrust case puts Meta’s empire on trial

The post Zuckerberg US antitrust case puts Meta’s empire on trial appeared first on Android Headlines.

Apr 15, 2025 - 17:59

Summary: Mark Zuckerberg has recently taken the stand in Meta’s US antitrust case. He is defending Meta’s decisions to acquire WhatsApp and Instagram—acquisitions the FTC describes as monopolistic. If the court rules against Meta, it could force the company to sell off both platforms.

Meta is essentially the world’s largest social media network. Its umbrella includes social media juggernauts like Instagram and Facebook. It also owns WhatsApp, one of the most-used messenger apps in the world. But it seems that Meta’s dominance is facing a threat, one that threatens to break it apart, app by app.

Meta’s buy-or-bury practices

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand this week in a US antitrust case in what could be the biggest antitrust showdown of the company’s existence. At the heart of the case and what lawmakers want to know is, did Meta buy Instagram and WhatsApp to kill competition before it could thrive?

The Federal Trade Commission thinks so. Their case leans heavily on internal emails that show Zuckerberg saw Instagram as a real threat back in 2012. One message described Instagram’s growth as “really scary.” Another slammed Facebook’s own photo app as underwhelming and slow. Weeks later, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. WhatsApp followed in 2014 for $19 billion.

According to the FTC, both deals weren’t about innovation; they were effectively preemptive strikes designed to prevent those apps from rising and eclipsing Meta’s own products and services. Former US Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan said on CNBC’s Squawk Box that Meta resorted to a “buy-or-bury” strategy.

“It saw companies like Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing astronomical growth, and that’s the point at which it resorted to this buy-or-bury scheme where, if it couldn’t outcompete a rival, it either bought them out or cut them off its network.”

Meta defends itself

Unsurprisingly, Zuckerberg disagrees. He points to a rapidly evolving tech landscape where acquisitions are necessary to build better products. He also downplays the idea that Meta is a monopoly.

If the FTC wins, the court could force Meta to sell off both Instagram and WhatsApp. Losing Instagram could blow a massive hole in Meta’s advertising business. Meta does not release app-specific revenue figures. However, according to advertising research firm Emarketer, Instagram could bring in $37.13 billion in ad revenue this year. This is more than half of Meta’s US ad revenue.

Zuckerberg is said to have personally lobbied US President Donald Trump to intervene, but so far, Trump doesn’t seem ready to do so.

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