Will Zuckerberg End Up Selling Whatsapp & Instagram?

Mark Zuckerberg’s company faces an antitrust suit by the US government. This led Zuckerberg to testify in a Washington federal court on Monday (April 14) in the landmark antitrust suit.

Zuckerberg is the co-founder and chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder of Meta Platforms. Meta is the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

About the lawsuit

A powerful consumer protection agency in the US, named The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is accusing Meta of abusing its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors.

“They decided that competition is too hard and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than to compete with them,” Daniel Matheson, an FTC lawyer, was quoted in the media to have said in his opening remarks at the anti-trust trial.

The FTC shared an email from Zuckerberg before Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, where he said that Instagram’s emergence was “really scary”, and “that is why we might want to consider paying a lot of money for this”.

Eventually, Facebook purchased Instagram, which was only a small photo-sharing app then.   

Meta acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. To go with the argument of  FTC attorneys, it was the same rationale that made Meta buy the messaging app, fearing that it could transform into a social network or be bought by one of Meta’s competitors.

Meta’s lawyer Mark Hansen, on the other hand, defended before the court that acquiring a firm is not unlawful in the US, and that is what Meta (Facebook) did.

Meta is also likely to highlight that the apps are free for users, and that they face fierce competition.
Meta At Stake?

If the court rules that divesting WhatsApp and Instagram is in the best interests of consumers, then Meta will be forced to do that.

If this happens, Meta will lose a huge deal after investing billions to acquire and then to grow the two apps. These apps have now become global powerhouses. 

Zuckerberg& Lawsuits

In 2004, Zuckerberg was sued by the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler and Divya Narendra. He has faced numerous other lawsuits over the years.

It was in December 2020, the present case against Meta was first filed. It was during Trump’s first term as President.

Reportedly, Zuckerberg has made several attempts to convince Trump’s administration of a settlement in the case rather than a trial.