Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended his company's past acquisitions in federal court Monday, as the Federal Trade Commission opened its landmark antitrust trial accusing the social media giant of illegally monopolizing the personal social networking market. The case, underway in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, focuses on Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, and threatens to dismantle a core part of its business if the FTC prevails.
Zuckerberg, appearing on the stand for what is expected to be two days of testimony, fielded questions from FTC lead litigator Daniel Matheson regarding internal discussions about acquiring rival platforms. Among the documents entered into evidence was a 2012 email in which Zuckerberg wrote that buying Instagram could "neutralize a potential competitor." In another exchange, Zuckerberg reportedly acknowledged that "Instagram was growing so much faster than us that we had to buy them," referring to the $1 billion deal.
The FTC's central argument is that Meta, through these acquisitions, eliminated nascent threats in a deliberate strategy to dominate the market rather than compete. "Meta broke the deal," Matheson said, arguing that the company chose to buy its way to the top rather than allow market forces to operate.
Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has pushed back, claiming that regulators approved the acquisitions at the time and that the FTC's case relies on decade-old internal messages rather than evidence of consumer harm. In a pretrial brief, Meta asserted that "the FTC's case rests almost entirely on emails allegedly expressing competitive concerns," without proof of actual anticompetitive effects.
The trial, expected to last eight weeks, is one of the most significant challenges to a Big Tech merger in decades. Legal experts say a forced breakup-requiring Meta to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp-would be unprecedented and difficult to achieve given the deals were cleared years ago.
Still, the FTC has drawn attention to a string of messages from Zuckerberg and other executives that suggest a pattern of acquisition to eliminate competition. Meta has argued that such intent is irrelevant without demonstrable harm to consumers, particularly as the platforms are free to use and competition from TikTok, YouTube, X, and other apps has intensified in recent years.
Meta's legal team also mocked the FTC's so-called "ad load theory," with lead counsel Mark Hansen telling the court that disliking ads is no basis for antitrust action. "If you don't like an ad, you scroll past it. It takes about a second," Hansen said, drawing laughter from the courtroom.
The FTC, however, contends that Meta's dominance has reduced privacy protections and degraded user experience in ways that consumers cannot easily avoid due to the lack of viable alternatives. The agency hopes the court will accept its narrower definition of the "personal social networking" market, which excludes platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn based on function.
In her blog post ahead of the trial, Meta's Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said, "Instagram and WhatsApp provide a model for what successful acquisitions can achieve," citing billions of dollars in improvements and innovation. She also framed the FTC's case as politically motivated, arguing it would damage American competitiveness in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.
Former Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom and ex-COO Sheryl Sandberg are expected to testify this week. Observers note that if the FTC succeeds, the case could reshape antitrust enforcement and cast a long shadow over merger strategies across the tech industry.
