An antitrust trial of US social media giant Meta is set to begin in a federal court on Monday over allegations that the company bought the platforms Instagram and Whatsapp to illegally eliminate competition.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants Meta, which also owns , to reverse the acquisitions made more than a decade ago.
However, with appeals likely from both sides, the trial is likely to drag on for years.
The trial is a blow to the hope of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg that the case might be dropped by in his second term as the president pursues what is largely a pro-business agenda that has mostly seemed friendly to Big Tech.
The trial is being presided over by Judge James Boasberg, who is the judge in a high-profile case involving federal government orders to
but the FTC has managed this time to push its case to court.
What are the allegations?
The lawsuit was filed against Meta, which was then called , in 2020, during Trump’s first term.
The US government, through the antitrust watchdog of the FTC, has alleged the company abused its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors.
Meta bought Instagram in 2012 for around $1 billion (€880 billion) and WhatsApp in 2014 for around $22 billion.
The FTC approved the acquisitions at the time.
How will Meta defend itself?
Meta has rejected the accusations.
It argues that other platforms such as , owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, are providing adequate competition on the market.
Meta’s defense lawyers will also say at the trial that it was only substantial investments by the company that turned the two acquisitions into the huge revenue drivers they are today, with Instagram, for example, still a small-scale photo-sharing app when it was purchased.
They will also stress that Meta’s apps are free for users.
Ahead of the trial, Zuckerberg has sought to use other means to persuade Trump to choose a settlement rather than fight the case, among other things and .
to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he wrongfully had his accounts suspended by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot.
Zuckerberg, the world’s third-richest man, has also bought a multi-million-dollar mansion in the US capital, a move seen as an attempt to stay close to the center of political decision-making.
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