What Happened?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in an antitrust lawsuit, where attorneys from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission questioned his motivations for acquiring Instagram, as he had previously viewed Instagram as a threat. Zuckerberg countered that the purpose of the acquisition was to enhance the business rather than suppress competition.
Zuckerberg pointed out that acquiring existing applications is more efficient than developing new ones, and he strongly refuted the monopolistic market claims. If Meta loses the case, it may be forced to break up these companies, which would have significant implications for future business operations.
In addition to the antitrust lawsuit controversy, a former Facebook global policy director recently accused Meta of providing AI technology support to the Chinese government and sharing users’ personal data, posing a threat to national security.
Zuckerberg Testifies in Antitrust Lawsuit
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Meta, testified for the first time on the 14th in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust lawsuit against Meta. The lawsuit accuses Meta of illegally monopolizing the social media market through the acquisitions of the social platform Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp.
On the second day of the trial, FTC attorney Daniel Matheson questioned Zuckerberg’s motivations for acquiring Instagram, highlighting that Zuckerberg had referred to Instagram as a “rapidly growing, threatening network,” implying that he viewed Instagram primarily as a competitive threat rather than for the app’s growth and development.
However, Zuckerberg stated that he and his team had many discussions about their excitement in acquiring Instagram and enhancing it into a better product. He argued that Matheson misunderstood the intent of the emails.
According to CBS News, during the questioning, Matheson repeatedly cited several emails and messages that Zuckerberg and his colleagues wrote before acquiring Instagram, some of which are over a decade old.
For example, Matheson referenced a message from February 2012 where Zuckerberg mentioned to Facebook’s former CFO that apps like Instagram and Path “could pose significant threats to us.” Zuckerberg explained that this message was part of a discussion with his team about whether to acquire these companies, emphasizing that the team’s goal was to accelerate business development, not merely to see them as threats. He also stressed that the primary purpose of the acquisition was to leverage Instagram and WhatsApp’s technological resources to foster the growth of their own services, not to suppress competitors.
Zuckerberg believes that acquiring these applications does not negatively impact competition and noted that given the difficulty of building new applications, acquiring existing companies is a more efficient choice.
The outcome of this lawsuit will have significant implications for Meta’s future; if the FTC successfully proves that Meta monopolized the market through these acquisitions, the company may be forced to split Instagram and WhatsApp and realign its business strategy.
Meta Involved in National Security Controversy
Aside from illegal monopolization, Meta has recently found itself embroiled in national security controversies.
During a congressional hearing, former Facebook global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams revealed that Meta provided technological support for AI development in China and shared user data, including the personal information of U.S. users, in order to establish an $1.8 billion business in China. She believes this move poses a risk to U.S. national security.
Wynn-Williams pointed out that Meta’s relationship with China is not merely a business collaboration; the company even partnered with the Chinese government to develop censorship tools aimed at eliminating criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. She disclosed that under pressure from the Chinese government, Meta had deleted a Facebook account of a Chinese dissident, though Meta claimed the account violated community standards.
Wynn-Williams also mentioned in her testimony that Meta’s AI technology has accelerated China’s competitiveness in the global AI landscape.
She harshly accused Zuckerberg of being duplicitous, actively pursuing a good relationship with China while constantly trying to maintain connections with the government during Trump’s presidency.
However, according to foreign media reports, Meta refuted these allegations. Company spokesperson Ryan Daniels stated that Wynn-Williams’s testimony was completely detached from reality and filled with false statements. He emphasized that although Zuckerberg had expressed interest in the Chinese market in public, Meta does not operate services in China.
Source: BBC, CBS News, FOX Business