Did you know Mark Zuckerberg Takes Stand for Second Day in Landmark US Antitrust Trial for Taking Over Instagram and Whatsapp

 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was seen taking the stand for the second time to testify in the landmark US Antitrust trial. This has to do with Meta’s ownership of Instagram and WhatsApp, which the FTC is referring to as monopoly practices.

The company was accused of trying to pull out all the stops to wipe out its competition because it felt they could become big threats to the tech giant in the future.

The hearing was held in the capital city of Washington, where Zuckerberg’s hopes of Trump intervening and protecting Big Tech with the antitrust law were dwindling. The end result of the case could see the Facebook owner undergo a merger and divest both platforms that are now considered major powerhouses in the tech era.

The case was filed first in December of 2020 when Trump was in power. At the time, all eyes used to be on whether the Republican chief would ask the FTC to step down.

This is not the first time that we’ve seen Meta come under pressure and Zuckerberg show up in court to share his side of the matter. He’s also been seen making several trips to the White House to try and convince the president that Meta did nothing wrong and was only looking out for the best interests of the company. Unfortunately, that proved to be not as fruitful as one would have hoped.

He was seen buying a mega $23 million mansion in Washington that was seen as an attempt to spend more time closer to the actual political power center. Today, Instagram stands as a single app with more than 2 billion active users.

Another email shared by Zuckerberg was revealed by the FTC that showed him displaying the app’s emergence as something very scary, and that’s why they might consider paying a lot more for something like this.

Yesterday was the first day of the testimony where Zuckerberg was seen downplaying all the exchanges as solely early discussions before he made actual plans to consider a buyout for Instagram. However, the FTC is far from convinced.

They argue that Meta’s $19 billion WhatsApp acquisition followed a similar pattern. Zuckerberg was fearful that the messaging platform might convert into a mega social network or fall prey to another arch rival in the industry.

The tech giant’s defense attorneys countered how a certain number of investments were needed to convert the acquisitions into something as major as what they appear today. Similarly, they highlighted how Meta’s apps were free for users and now face serious competition across the board.

The FTC attorney spoke more on the matter during his opening remarks. He says that Meta found competition to be too difficult and therefore the easier way out was purchasing rivals instead of competing side by side.

Now, a pivotal part of this battle in the courtroom will need to do with how the FTC will define the company’s market. As it is, the American government is urging certain apps like Instagram and Facebook to remain at the top of the game and provide the best way to link with loved ones and pals. This is one domain that does not entail the likes of YouTube and TikTok. However, Meta is not in favor of this.

The company says that only evidence in the trial can prove the reality, which is how Meta’s apps face serious competition from the likes of TikTok and YouTube, among others in the industry.