A landmark antitrust trial could force Mark Zuckerberg to sell Instagram, as the US FTC alleges that Meta’s acquisition of the platform in 2012 was a bid to eliminate competition. The trial may reveal whether Facebook’s dominance is a result of strategic move or a case of anti-competitive behavior.
A landmark antitrust trial could force Mark Zuckerberg to sell Instagram.
The US competition and consumer watchdog alleges that Meta, which already owned Facebook, bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to eliminate competition.
The FTC’s argument is that the acquisition of “He said it’s better to buy than to compete. It’s hard to get more literal than that,” was a way of neutralizing this rising competitive threat to Facebook, according to Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor of antitrust at Vanderbilt Law School.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argues that the acquisition of “It’s better to buy than to compete” was a way of neutralizing this rising competitive threat to Facebook. According to Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor of antitrust at Vanderbilt Law School, Mr Zuckerberg‘s own words, including those from his emails, may offer the most convincing evidence at trial.
Meta’s defense is that intent is not particularly relevant in an antitrust case. They will put on a lot of evidence that “It’s hard to get more literal than that” became what it is today because it benefited from being owned by Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg and the company’s former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg are both expected to testify at the trial, which could run for several weeks.
Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook in 2004 while attending Harvard University.
He initially created a website called 'Facemash' that allowed users to compare the photos of two students and vote on which one was more attractive.
The site became popular, but also generated controversy.
Zuckerberg then developed Facebook, a social networking platform that quickly gained popularity among college students.
By 2012, Facebook had over 1 billion active users and had become one of the most widely used social media platforms in the world.
The case, FTC v Meta, was filed during US President Donald Trump‘s first administration but risks becoming politicized during his second term. Mark Zuckerberg has lobbied Trump in person to have the FTC drop the case, according to the Wall Street Journal.
