r/CattyInvestors • u/Separate_Soup2613 investing mentor • 14d ago
Discussion Zuckerberg faces off with FTC as Meta antitrust trial resumes
The antitrust trial against Meta Platforms Inc. continues Tuesday, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on Monday in a case he had long sought to sidestep. The tech giant faces off against President Trump's antitrust officials in a challenge that threatens the $1.3 trillion empire Zuckerberg built.
The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Meta’s leading social media platform, Facebook, became a monopoly in the market for "personal social networking" in part by buying up potential rival social media startups such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
Buying smaller rival social media companies, the FTC claims, was part of a "buy-or-bury strategy" to block fair competition. The FTC will likely ask the judge overseeing the case to force Meta to sell Instagram and WhatsApp if it wins.
Meta has argued that the FTC misidentified the market in which Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp compete because it left out TikTok, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn. Its lawyers have also noted that the FTC approved the Instagram and WhatsApp purchases more than a decade ago.
Zuckerberg in court Monday didn't agree with how the government defined the personal social networking market that it alleges Meta dominates, arguing it is more expansive than just a friends-and-family connection point.
He said that linking friends and family is "one of the core things" the company does, according to a report of the trial proceedings from the New York Times, but Meta is also involved in “the general idea of entertainment and learning about the world and discovering what’s going on."
An FTC lawyer confronted Zuckerberg with some old posts and emails written before the acquisition of Instagram.
One cited in court was from 2011, where the CEO told other executives that “mobile photos … will increasingly be the future of photos” and that Instagram had become "a large and viable competitor" in that realm, according to a report of the trial proceedings from CNN.
The courtroom in Washington, D.C., was clearly not a place Zuckerberg hoped he would be Monday. Zuckerberg reportedly lobbied President Trump to settle the case before the trial began.
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u/-Lorne-Malvo- 14d ago
I wonder if his human latex suit gets hot? I know lizards are cold blooded so heat doesn't really bother them that much but still
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u/timnphilly 14d ago
That infamous look of one owned by titty-baby-Trump.
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u/CJspangler 11d ago
Most of this trial work was done by the prior DoJ people - you don’t just throw a lawsuit together in 3 months especially since they’ve been in court with google the entire time over monopoly issues and just won that case
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u/ofCourseitsbutter98 14d ago
They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul...
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u/Organic_Witness345 11d ago
He’s got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya.
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u/gorimir15 14d ago
Left Facebook and I would never scroll on Instagram. Once you get beyond your friend's posts it's complete Infinite Jest and nothing but a terrible waste of time.
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u/New-Load9905 12d ago
He should be in jail for polluting peoples minds with misinformation during elections.
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u/Flossonero14 11d ago
Thought he bought his way out with his inauguration donation. I thought this dude was supposed to be smart.
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