Washington, United States:
Social media Titan Mark Zuckerberg testified in a landmark US antitrust trial on Tuesday for a second day, defending his group Meta and captured Instagram and WhatsApp against the allegations.
The federal court trial in Washington has destroyed Zuckerberg’s expectations that President Donald Trump’s return to the White House will focus on the enforcement of the no -confidence law against Big Tech.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Attorney Daniel Matheson showed Zuckerberg emails since 2012, which listed the potential causes of buying start-ups such as Instagram, a former Facebook Chief Financial Officer, including “neutralizing a competitor”.
Commenting on the role of competitive pressure, Zuckerberg said, “Instead, it played Facebook’s ability to improve features, user numbers and revenue.”
Zuckerberg testified, “Instagram integration ended very well; we were able to add more value to Instagram.
“After that, we originally felt more confident that we could identify other social apps, possibly get them and develop them faster (as they will be on their own).”
Zuckerberg said that he believes that if Snapchat had accepted Facebook’s bias offer in 2013, it would now have billions of users.
Snapchat ended with around 450 million daily users last year.
Zuckerberg said about Snapchat, “What is worth it, I think we must have accelerated their growth.”
The case may force Meta to divide Instagram and WhatsApp, which have evolved into the global powerhouse since their purchase.
It was originally filed in December 2020, first during the Trump administration, and everyone’s eyes were on whether the Republican would ask to stand below the FTC.
Zuckerberg, the world’s third largest person, has traveled repeatedly in the White House as he tried to convince the President to choose the disposal instead of fighting the trial.
As part of his lobbying efforts, Zuckerberg contributed to Trump’s inaugural fund and overhell material moderation policies. He also bought a $ 23 million mansion in Washington, which was seen as a dialect to spend more time to the center of political power.
‘really scary’
Central to Case Facebook’s 2012 billion-dollar’s Instagram purchase is-then a small but promising photo-sharing app that now claims two billion active users.
An email from Zuckerberg, cited by FTC, showed him the emergence of Instagram as “really scary”, adding that “we want to consider paying a lot of money for it.”
On Monday, on its first day of testimony, Zuckerberg reduced those exchanges as the initial thing before coming up with plans for Instagram.
But FTC argues that in 2014 Mata’s $ 19 billion WhatsApp acquisition followed the same pattern, with Zuckerberg could either turn the messaging app into social network or be purchased by a competitor.
Meta defense lawyers said that adequate investment converted these acquisitions into today’s blockbusters.
They also throw light on the fact that meta apps are free for users and face fierce competition.
FTC Attorney Matheson commented on comment said that Facebook “decided that the competition is very difficult and would be easier to buy your rivals than competing with them.”
Meta Attorney Mark Hansen said in his first Salvo that “acquisition to improve and develop an acquired firm” is not illegal in the United States, saying what Facebook has done.
A major part of the court room battle will be how FTC defines the Meta market.
The US government argues that Facebook and Instagram apps are prominent players who provide a way to connect with family and friends, a category that does not include Tikok and YouTube.
But meta disagree.
Asked about Facebook and Instagram main competition, Zuckerberg named Google-owned YouTube and China-based sensation Tiktok because the video is “the primary way people who share the material.”
On the video front, Meta has caught a lot to do, Zuckerberg told the court.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)