Mark Zuckerberg defends Meta in social media monopoly trial | EUROtoday

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has taken the witness stand in a landmark antitrust trial to defend his firm towards allegations that his firm operates a social media monopoly.

His testimony is a part of a case first introduced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2020 throughout the closing days of the primary Trump administration.

The US competitors watchdog alleges Meta unfairly dominated the market by way of its acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram in 2012 and the messaging service WhatsApp in 2014.

The FTC is looking for to interrupt up Meta by forcing a by-product of Instagram or WhatsApp. Meta says there’s loads of competitors in social media, together with from apps reminiscent of TikTok, X, and YouTube.

Wearing a darkish swimsuit and light-weight blue tie, Mr Zuckerberg was the primary witness within the case on Monday at a federal court docket in Washington DC. The trial is predicted to final for 2 months.

The FTC pointed to a 2011 e mail Mr Zuckerberg despatched saying: “Instagram seems like it’s growing quickly.”

The following yr, he despatched one other e mail saying the corporate 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”.

On the stand, Mr Zuckerberg defended his statements, calling the emails “relatively early” conversations about shopping for the app. He added that Meta had improved Instagram over time.

Mr Zuckerberg additionally stated he wished to purchase Instagram due to its digital camera expertise, not due to its social community. He is predicted to proceed his testimony on Tuesday.

The FTC says the corporate overpaid when it acquired Instagram for $1bn and WhatsApp for $19bn as a defensive transfer.

“They decided that competition was too hard and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than to compete with them,” stated FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson in his opening assertion at Monday’s trial.

Meta countered that the lawsuit from the FTC, which initially reviewed and accepted each these acquisitions, was “misguided”.

Meta “acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to improve and grow them alongside Facebook”, the corporate’s legal professional Mark Hansen argued.

The FTC lawyer cited a 2012 memo from Mr Zuckerberg wherein he discusses the significance of “neutralising” Instagram.

Mr Matheson referred to as that message “a smoking gun”.

Meta, then again, stated the purchases made the patron expertise higher.

“Acquisitions to improve and grow” have by no means been discovered illegal, Meta’s lead litigator, stated on Monday, “and they should not be found unlawful here”.

Meta stated final yr that it had 3.27 billion each day lively customers throughout its merchandise.

Instagram was anticipated to account for greater than half of Meta’s promoting income within the US in 2025. in accordance with analysis agency Emarketer.

Meta has been making common overtures to Trump since his election.

The firm contributed $1m to Trump’s inaugural fund, and has added former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White, a Trump ally, to Meta’s board of administrators this yr.

The firm additionally introduced in January that it was rolling again content material moderation insurance policies that Republicans stated had amounted to censorship.

It additionally agreed to pay Trump $25m to settle a lawsuit over the suspension of his accounts after the US Capitol riot in 2021.

Mr Zuckerberg has additionally visited the White House in current weeks.

The Meta boss has lobbied Trump in particular person to have the FTC drop the case, in accordance with the Wall Street Journal.

When requested by the BBC to verify that report, Meta sidestepped the query however stated in an announcement: “The FTC’s lawsuits against Meta defies reality.”

FTC v Meta begins as one other main antitrust case – USA v Google – grinds on.

The Department of Justice received the primary section of that case final summer time when Judge Amit Mehta discovered that Google holds a monopoly in on-line search, with a market share of round 90%.

Last month, authorities attorneys reiterated a requirement made throughout the Biden administration {that a} court docket break up Google’s search monopoly.

The FTC’s case towards Meta will likely be more durable to show, says Laura Phillips-Sawyer, an affiliate professor of enterprise legislation on the University of Georgia.

“I think they have a real uphill battle,” Ms Phillips-Sawyer stated of the FTC.

“They have a long road before any consideration of divestiture of Instagram or WhatsApp is considered.”

That’s as a result of in comparison with on-line search, there’s extra competitors within the private community companies house that Meta operates in, Ms Phillips-Sawyer stated.

Amazon and Apple additionally face antitrust lawsuits by US enforcers.