Zuckerberg Testifies in Landmark Antitrust Trial Against Meta
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared as the first witness in a landmark antitrust trial defending his company, which owns Facebook, against accusations that it holds a monopoly in the social media industry. The trial is anticipated to last for another two months.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated the case in 2020, alleging Meta unfairly cemented its dominance in the market by acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The FTC aims to dismantle Meta by requiring the spin-off of Instagram or WhatsApp. In his opening statements Monday, Daniel Matheson, lead attorney for the FTC, stated, “There’s nothing wrong with Meta innovating. It’s what happened next that is a problem.”
Dressed in a dark suit and pale blue tie, Zuckerberg took the stand Monday, where he argued that there were enough competitors in the space, citing TikTok, YouTube, and X as significant rivals.
Central to the FTC’s case are internal emails from Zuckerberg dating back to 2011, in which he noted Instagram’s rapid growth. Another email in 2012 revealed Zuckerberg’s concern that his company was falling “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.”
“Acquiring these competitive threats has enabled Facebook to sustain its dominance—to the detriment of competition and users—not by competing on the merits, but by avoiding competition.”
On the stand, Zuckerberg dismissed these as “relatively early” thoughts on acquiring the app and emphasized that Meta substantially enhanced Instagram post-acquisition.
Zuckerberg further insisted that Instagram’s appeal was its advanced camera technology rather than its social networking capabilities and maintained that the company sought acquisitions to enhance its services rather than stifle competition.
“Acquisitions to improve and grow have never been found unlawful, and they should not be found unlawful here,” Meta’s lead lawyer, Mark Hansen, argued. He characterized the FTC lawsuit as “misguided” and insisted that Meta “acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to improve and grow them alongside Facebook.”
“How can the FTC maintain this monopolization case when [Meta] has never charged users a cent?”
However, Matheson highlighted how Zuckerberg spoke about “neutralizing” Instagram, calling it “a smoking gun” back in his 2012 memo.
“They decided that competition was too hard and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than to compete with them.”
Meta, boasting 3.27 billion daily active users across its platforms as of last year, anticipates Instagram will generate more than half of its U.S. advertising revenue in 2025, according to market research firm Emarketer. “Instagram has also been picking up the slack for Facebook on the user front, particularly among young people, for a long time,” Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg told the Associated Press.
“The trial also comes as Meta is trying to bring back OG Facebook in an effort to appeal to Gen Z and younger users as they join social media. Social media usage is far more fragmented today than it was in 2012 when Facebook acquired Instagram, and Facebook isn’t where the cool college kids hang out anymore. Meta needs Instagram to continue growing, especially as more advertisers think Instagram-first with their Meta budgets.”
The trial unfolds amidst claims that Zuckerberg actively sought former President Trump’s intervention to dismiss the FTC’s case. The Wall Street Journal reported meetings between Zuckerberg and Trump, coinciding with Meta’s notable actions favoring Trump and his allies.
These include a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund, the appointment of Trump ally and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White and former Trump advisor Dina Powell McCormick to Meta’s board. In January, Meta rolled back content moderation policies frequently criticized by Republicans as censorship. Additionally, Meta agreed to pay Trump $25 million to settle litigation over his account suspension following the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.
When asked by the BBC to confirm Zuckerberg’s lobbying efforts, Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro avoided a direct response, instead focusing on the broader impact of any decision.
“Regulators should be supporting American innovation, rather than seeking to break up a great American company and further advantaging China on critical issues like AI.”
“The FTC’s lawsuit against Meta defies reality. The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Chinese-owned TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and many others.”
This trial coincides with another significant antitrust case against Google. The Department of Justice recently succeeded in establishing Google’s monopoly over online search, where they hold a market share of around 90%, prompting ongoing discussions about potential divestitures.
However, experts like Laura Phillips-Sawyer, an associate professor of business law at the University of Georgia, suggest the FTC faces greater difficulty proving Meta’s market dominance, highlighting the comparatively competitive landscape in the social networking industry.
“I think they have a real uphill battle. They have a long road before any consideration of divestiture of Instagram or WhatsApp is considered.”
Amazon and Apple also remain subjects of ongoing antitrust litigation by U.S. authorities.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
