Meta's Zuckerberg defends Instagram, WhatsApp buys

Photo : Reuters

Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta (the company that owns Facebook), spoke in a big court case on Monday. This case is very important and could break Meta into smaller companies. Meta is worth $1.4 trillion.

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The U.S. government, through a group called the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), says Meta did something unfair. They say Meta bought Instagram and WhatsApp just to stop other companies from growing and becoming strong. The FTC says Meta wanted to stay the biggest and didn’t want to lose to new apps.

Zuckerberg was the first person to talk in the courtroom. This trial may not only change Meta, but also change the rules for other tech companies who want to buy smaller ones.

The FTC’s lawyer, Daniel Matheson, said that people using Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp don’t have other good choices. He said Meta bought Instagram and WhatsApp to stop fighting with new apps. That way, Meta could stay on top and no one could beat it.

He also said that Meta is very strong in what they call the "personal social networking" world — apps that help people talk to their friends and family.

Zuckerberg said that buying Instagram and WhatsApp was not to stop other companies. He said it helped make the apps better and more useful.

He also said Meta has changed. Now, people like to follow groups or topics they are interested in, not just their close friends. But he added that staying close to friends and family is still very important to Meta.

The FTC showed old emails from 2012. In one email, Zuckerberg talked about buying Instagram so it would not be a problem for Facebook. In another, he said Facebook’s photo app was not doing well compared to Instagram.

Zuckerberg said these emails were from talks inside the company and were taken the wrong way. He said Meta put in a lot of money and work into Instagram and WhatsApp after buying them.

Meta’s lawyers said that the U.S. government had already said yes to both the Instagram and WhatsApp deals many years ago — in 2012 and 2014. They said it’s not fair to change the rules now and go back after so many years.

But the FTC said after Meta bought Instagram, they didn’t improve it quickly because they didn’t want it to take users away from Facebook. The lawyer said this may have been smart for business, but it’s not fair by law.

Zuckerberg will speak again on Tuesday. More people like Meta’s old top worker Sheryl Sandberg and the person who helped make Instagram, Kevin Systrom, will also speak in court later.

If the FTC wins the case, Meta might be told to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. This would be a big change and hurt Meta’s business, especially its ad money. Instagram alone is expected to make more than half of Meta’s ad money in the U.S. in 2025.