Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, is gearing up for a historic antitrust fight with the FTC set to begin on Monday. The lawsuit, filed during Donald Trump’s first term in office, will determine if Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp were designed to put a stranglehold on the social media market.
AdWeek reports that in what could be a defining moment for the tech industry, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is facing a momentous antitrust trial brought forth by the FTC. The trial, set to begin on April 14, will scrutinize Meta’s past acquisitions of social media startups, particularly Instagram and WhatsApp, and determine whether these moves were strategically designed to quash competition.
The FTC’s complaint, originally filed in 2020, alleges that Meta engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly by acquiring potential rivals like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The agency also claims that Meta imposed anticompetitive conditions on software developers to maintain its market dominance.
At the heart of the trial is the question of whether Zuckerberg’s past business decisions were anti-competitive in nature. The FTC argues that by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp when it did, Meta stifled opportunity and potentially paved the way for future monopolistic practices. However, experts point out that the burden of proof will be higher for the FTC, as these acquisitions occurred years ago in a market that has since evolved.
The stakes are high for Meta, as a loss in this trial could result in the company being forced to break up its $1.3 trillion ad business and spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. This would be a severe blow to Meta’s revenues, as Instagram alone is expected to contribute more than half of the company’s total U.S. ad revenue by 2025, amounting to over $32 billion.
In an apparent effort to avoid the trial altogether, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been meeting with President Trump at the White House in recent weeks. While a pre-trial settlement is possible, it appears unlikely given the current political climate and the FTC’s stance on enforcing antitrust laws.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this week, Zuckerberg has continued to extend olive branches to the Trump administration, but all the while has kept prominent MAGA accounts banned from his platforms:
In January, Zuckerberg made several public overtures to the Trump administration, praising parts of its policy platform in an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, and criticizing the outgoing Biden administration for its censorship demands during COVID. Zuckerberg also announced a policy pivot at Meta, promising to “get back to our roots” of supporting free speech.
Despite these pledges, several prominent anti-establishment figures remain banned on Meta platforms.
The trial also serves as a test for the Trump-era FTC under the leadership of newly appointed chairman Andrew Ferguson. While Ferguson has suggested he will obey lawful orders from the president if told to drop the case, the outcome of this trial could set a precedent for how antitrust laws are applied to tech giants in the current political environment.
Read more at AdWeek here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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