The Meta antitrust test begins. Here’s what you need to know: NPR

The Federal Trade Commission’s blockbuster antitrust case against the meta begins Monday in a courtroom in Washington, D.C. It is the culmination of almost six years of research into whether the social media giant violated competition laws when buying Instagram and WhatsApp.

There is a hope that future Meta’s vast advertising business and highly popular services will have to be spin-off into separate companies.

The FTC and META lawyers will provide an opening statement Monday before US District Judge James Boasberg in a trial that is scheduled to be extended seven to eight weeks.

Much of evidence and dozens of witnesses are scrutinized. The government will call witness stands with former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, head of Instagram Adam Mosselli.

What is the case of FTC for meta?

The FTC claims that when Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp two years later, it was part of a strategy to eliminate competition and maintain the monopoly rights that rise to the social media market. The government argues that the “purchase or burial” strategy has driven the acquisition of meta, leading them to acquire competitors who view meta as a threat, or to crush their rivals completely out of the business. The FTC says this suspected action is illegal under federal antitrust law.

What treatment does FTC want?

The government argues that the only way to recover competition from the social media market is to force Meta to free up both Instagram and WhatsApp purchases. The government says that by selling these apps, it will allow small social media companies to compete with consumers for advertising dollars and loosen the meta grip against the industry.

How do you expect Meta to respond in court?

Meta counters that he is being punished for being an innovative, offensive, high-tech company. According to Meta’s lawyers, it’s always fair competition, and regulators are trying to punish the tech Titan for the success of its runaway. Meta’s lawyers also said in court filings that the acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp was approved by regulators more than a decade ago, and that revisiting these decisions is wrong.

However, the FTC claims that Meta has not approached the regulators that cleared the purchase, and that Meta withheld important information about the company to win Washington’s blessing. Another important aspect of Meta’s defense is the difference today in the social media ecosystem compared to 2012 and 2014 when the company made their purchases.

Currently, Meta says it faces intense competition with Elon Musk’s X, Tiktok, Snapchat and many other social media platforms. In a statement ahead of the opening statement, Meta said, “The evidence at trial shows that all 17-year-olds around the world know. Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with China-owned Tiktok, YouTube, X, Imessage and more. More than a decade after FTC reviewed and cleared the winnings, the committee’s lawsuit sends a contract.

If Meta is forced to break up, what does that mean for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users?

The FTC says it means more robust competition between social media startups and therefore better quality service for everyone. Government lawyers argue that Meta’s services have suffered a decline in quality due to their dominant position in the market. The increase in competitors that the FTC claims will help improve what is available to consumers.

Regulators also say Meta’s privacy protections have expired as a result of suspected monopoly circumstances. For the FTC, breakup means a better social media app for all of us. But Meta says the opposite: the breakup means that each individual app will be less integrated and worsen for consumers.

What about the politics of the incident? How will CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s relationship with Trump be played in this trial?

The incident first began in December 2020 with Trump’s first term. That’s when Trump was still in a fierce feud with Zuckerberg, but the two weren’t recent conflicts. Before winning the November election, Trump threatened to throw Zuckerberg into prison, saying that if Zuckerberg’s platform did anything to hurt Trump’s chances on the campaign trail, he would “had the rest of his life in prison.”

Like many other Silicon Valley executives, Zuckerberg has recently been dressed in the Trump administration. Zuckeberg publicly praised Trump. He donated $1 million to Trump’s first committee. And he created a company-wide shift that coincides with Trump’s priorities, including closing the Facebook and Instagram fact-checking program and rolling back diversity, equity and inclusive programs.

Zuckerberg has visited the Mar-A-Lago club in Trump several times. There was speculation that Trump could abandon the trial and resolve it in the meta, but so far, all the indications point to cases that have unfolded for weeks. However, the start of the trial will not be abandoned. Although unlikely, there is no chance that both parties will reach a settlement in the middle of a trial.