Chief and co -founder goal Mark Zuckerberg Tok The Stand on Monday, April 14, in an emblematic antimony trial in which Juggenout of Social Networks is accused of abusing his market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before he could become competitors.
The lawyers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argue that Facebook, since the renamed target, devoured what he saw as competitive threats.
Zuckerberg was showing an internal Facebook email of 2011 that warned that Instagram was a success on smartphones and could easily copy what his social network sacrificed.
Another 2012 email with respect to Instagram’s acquisition simply suggested to keep the application in operation without any improvement, while Facebook developed its own products, and in doing so, avoid disturbing users when closing it.
Zuckerberg minimized those exchanges as early conversations before Instagram plans joined.
The beginning of the trial in a federal court in Washington launched Zuckerberg’s hopes that the return of President Donald Trump to the whites would see the government to stop the application of the antimonopoly law against the great technology.
The goal case could see the Facebook owner forced to uninverting Instagram and WhatsApp, which have become global powers since their purchase.
“They decided that the competition is too difficult and it would be easier to buy from their rivals than to compete with them,” said FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson in opening comments in the trial.
The goal lawyer Mark Hansen responded in his first save that “acquisitions to improve and grow an acquired company” are not illegal in the United States and that is what Facebook did.
Playing with Trump
The case against Meta was originally presented in December 2020, a duration of the Trump’s first administration, and all the eyes were to ask the FTC to retire.
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Zuckerberg, the third richest person in the world, has made repeated visits to the White House while trying to persuade the US leader to choose an agreement instead of fighting the trial.
As part of his lobbying efforts, Zuckerberg contributed to the Trump opening fund and reviewed content moderation policies. Hi, he also bought a $ 23 million mansion in Washington in what was seen as an attempt to spend more time near the center of political power.
Former Sheryl Sandberg of Zuckerberg and a long line of rival companies executives are scheduled to testify in a trial that is expected to last for at least eight weeks.
Central of the case is the purchase of one billion dollars on Instagram Facebook, then a small but promising application to share photos that now has two billion active users.
A Zuckerberg email cited by the FTC showed him that he represented Instagram’s emergence as “really scary,” and added that “why we could consider considering paying a lot of money for this.”
The FTC argues that the acquisition of WhatsApp of $ 19 billion goal in 2014 followed the same pattern, with Zuckerberg fearing that the messaging application could be transformed into a social network or bought by a competitor.
Meta defense lawyers counteract that substantial investments transformed these acquisitions into the box office successes that are today. They also emphasize that goal applications are free for users and face a fierce competition.
The FTC argues that Metap’s monopoly power is demonstrated by a severely degraded user experience, with too many ads and product changes.
A key battlefield will be how the FTC defines the finish line. The United States government argues that Facebook and Instagram are dominant players in applications that provide a way to connect with family and friends, a category that does not include Tiktok and YouTube.
But goal does not agree. “The evidence in the trial will show what every 17 -year -old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Tiktok, YouTube, X, Imessage and many others on Chinese property,” said a spokesman.
“The larger the relevant market can do … the more likely it is to defeat the case of the FTC,” said lawyer Brendan Benedict in the subsack.
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