Will Meta be forced to 'unfriend' Instagram? Zuckerberg testifies in FTC antitrust trial: All the details

Mark Zuckerberg

In what could be one of the most consequential antitrust trial, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand this week. The Meta CEO and Facebook co-founder is defending his social media empire against allegations that the company used its deep pockets— not innovation —to kill competition before it became a threat.

The trial, led by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is zeroing in on Meta’s high-profile acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Prosecutors say Zuckerberg bought out potential rivals to avoid the hard work of competing. The FTC in its complaint had said that the key question in this case “thus becomes whether Instagram and WhatsApp reasonably constituted nascent threats (or actual competitors) at the time Meta acquired them.”

“They decided competition was too hard,” said FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson, accusing Meta of strategically neutralising threats, during his opening remarks at the trial.

Meta’s legal team fired back, insisting the acquisitions were about growth, not suppression. Attorney Mark Hansen argued that US law doesn’t prohibit buying a company to help it grow—something Meta has famously done.

But key emails from Zuckerberg tell a different story. One FTC-cited message referred to Instagram’s early growth as “really scary,” just before Meta paid $1 billion for the app. WhatsApp, too, was bought for $19 billion after similar concerns.

The trial, expected to last eight weeks, could force Meta to divest both platforms — an outcome Zuckerberg has lobbied hard to avoid. His recent attempts to cozy up to Washington include revisiting content moderation policies, contributing to Trump’s inauguration, and reportedly buying a $23 million DC mansion to stay close to the action, according to a report by Reuters.

What the case is all about?

Central to the case is how “the market” is defined. The FTC argues Meta dominates social connection apps, excluding platforms like TikTok or YouTube. Meta, of course, says the competition is broader and fiercer than ever. "The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Chinese-owned TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and many others," a Meta spokesperson told Reuters.

Zuckerberg isn’t the only one under scrutiny — former COO Sheryl Sandberg and several industry rivals are also set to testify. This case is one of five ongoing antitrust challenges facing Big Tech, with Google, Apple, and Amazon not far behind.