Mark Zuckerberg took to the stand this week during the start of trial over the blockbuster antitrust lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding Meta’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg predicted that he might find himself in a similar position years ago, even proposing spinning off Instagram himself. In 2018, Zuckerberg raised concerns to other executives that there was a “non-trivial chance” that Facebook would be forced to spin out Instagram and possibly WhatsApp within the next 5-10 years.
He suggested spinning off Instagram due to its impact on Facebook’s structure, stating that most companies perform better after being split. However, Meta did not follow through with this plan.
Zuckerberg expressed concerns about competition from both Instagram and WhatsApp prior to their acquisition by Facebook. In 2011, he realized that Facebook’s mobile photos feature was falling behind Instagram in functionality and popularity. After acquiring Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, Zuckerberg stated that the platform was growing faster than Facebook.
In contrast, WhatsApp’s growth slowed down after its acquisition by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion. Despite this, Zuckerberg claimed that Meta made both platforms better for users by acquiring them.
The FTC argued that Meta dominates the social media market, with many users turning to rivals like TikTok and YouTube. However, Zuckerberg countered that messaging between individuals or friend groups is becoming more popular than sharing content on public social media feeds.
Zuckerberg also highlighted YouTube as a major rival to Facebook, citing its growing popularity among younger audiences. Despite this, Meta still operates a significant share of the social media market in the US.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/16/tech/mark-zuckerberg-testimony-meta-ftc-trial/index.html