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During a significant antitrust trial in Washington, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg made notable admissions regarding the company’s acquisition strategies. He revealed that he purchased Instagram primarily because it offered a superior camera feature compared to the one being developed for Facebook, then the company’s flagship app.
This revelation lends support to the accusations by U.S. antitrust regulators, asserting that Meta has employed a “buy or bury” strategy to eliminate competition and preserve its monopolistic hold over the social media landscape.
Zuckerberg’s testimony occurred on the second day of the trial, in which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is attempting to reverse Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, both of which have been pivotal to the company’s growth.
Initiated during President Donald Trump’s administration, this case is viewed as a crucial examination of the government’s commitment to regulating major tech corporations.
When questioned by FTC attorneys about the potential threat posed by the rapidly growing Instagram, Zuckerberg noted its photographic capabilities as a key factor in his decision to acquire the platform. He stated, “We were doing a build vs. buy analysis… I thought that Instagram was better at that, so I thought it was better to buy them.”
The CEO further acknowledged that numerous endeavors by Meta to create its own applications had not met with success.
Challenges in App Development
“Building a new app is hard, and more often than not, our attempts to create new applications haven’t gained significant traction,” Zuckerberg explained to the court. “We probably tried building dozens of apps over the history of the company, and the majority of them don’t go anywhere.”
Zuckerberg’s remarks take on additional significance in light of previously released internal Facebook documents. In a 2008 email, he indicated a preference for acquisition over competition, stating, “it is better to buy than compete.”
Meta is countering the FTC’s assertions by arguing that the commission has mischaracterized the social media market, neglecting the robust competition posed by platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Apple’s messaging application.
The FTC claims that Meta monopolizes the platforms designed for sharing content among friends and family, with its primary rivals in the U.S. being Snapchat and the niche privacy-focused social app MeWe, established in 2016.
Moreover, the FTC distinguishes platforms geared towards user-generated content—such as X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit—as not being substitutes for Meta’s offerings.
Source
finance.yahoo.com