Meta Zuckerberg’s anti -monopoly experience can be forced to sell Instagram

A trial began in a Langurest case against the social media giant in Washington on Monday.

American competition attorneys and consumer monitoring META illegally claim by purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp a decade ago.

“They decided that the competition was very difficult and it would be easier to buy their competitors than competing with them,” said Daniel Matthesson, lawyer for the FBI (FTC).

Meta replied that the lawsuit from FTC, which reviewed and relied on these acquisitions, is “misleading.”

The company’s lawyer, Mark Hansen, said:

Win by FTC can force Mark Zuckerberg CEO to dismantle the company.

This yarn can include Instagram sharing app and WhatsApp.

The Federal Trade Committee says that the company increases the payment when it acquired Instagram for a billion dollars in 2012. After that, I bought WhatsApp for $ 19 billion.

“FTC) is the acquisition of Instagram as a way to neutralize this increasing competitive threat to Facebook,” says Rebecca Hau Elinsworth, a professor of anti -monopoly law at Vanderbel’s Law College.

Ms. Alinsworth says that Mr. Zuckerberg’s special words, including those in his emails, may provide the most persuaded evidence in the trial.

“It is better to buy from competition. It is difficult to become more literal than that,” says Ms. Alinsworth.

On Monday, Matheson referred to a 2012 e -mail from Zuckerberg, discussing the importance of “Instagram”. Matthesson called the message “Smoking Gun”.

On the other hand, Meta said that the purchases made the consumer experience better.

Hansen said on Monday: “The acquisitions of improvement and growth have not been found, and they should not be found illegal here. “

The company confirms that it faces competition from a large number of other applications, including Tiktok, X, YouTube and IMESSAGE.

Mr. Zuckerberg and CEO of the former operations of the company Sherrill Sandberg will witness the trial, which can last for several weeks.

The case was presented, FTC V Meta, during the first administration of US President Donald Trump, but the risks that become politicized during his second term.

Mr. Zuckerberg pressed Trump personally to drop FTC in the case, According to the Wall Street Journal.

When I asked the British Broadcasting Corporation to confirm this report, Meta avoided this question, but he said in a statement: “It challenges FTC claims against Meta reality.”

“After more than 10 years have passed since the FTC review and surveying our acquisitions, the committee’s conduct in this case sends a message that there is no truly final deal,” a Meta spokesman told the BBC.

The relations between Mr. Zuckerberg and Trump were partially lukewarm because Trump was prevented from social media platforms in Meta after the American Capitol riot in January 2021.

Since then, the relationship was Somewhat melting.

Dead Contribute One million dollars (764,400 pounds) for the Trump opening fund, and former Trump advisor Dina Powell McC Corc Chama and head of the final fighting championship (UFC), Trump’s ally, added to the Mita Board of Directors this year.

The company also Declare In January he was getting rid of independent facts Agree to pay Trump is $ 25 million to settle a lawsuit for suspending his accounts after Capitol riots on January 6 in 2021.

President Trump moved to shoot the FTC Commissioners in March also commenting on the case.

As Democrats, Rebecca Kelly Slier and Alvaru was in a paid in a minority in the five seats committee.

Until Wednesday, only two seats were occupied by these seats, both by Republicans. It was another fans certain By the Senate on Thursday.

The massacre and Bedoya – who sue the Trump administration to return – says that the step to push them abroad was aimed at intimidating.

“The president sent a very clear signal not only for us, but to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Ferguson and Commissioner (Melissa) Hollyuk, that if they do something he does not like, he can shoot them as well,” Slator told the BBC in an interview with him recently.

“If they do not want to provide a well -known political allies, they are also on the bloc of cutting,” Siloter said.

Slaughter and Bedoya expressed his warning in recent reports on pressure efforts in Zuckerberg.

“My hope is that there is no political intervention,” Mr. Bedoya told the BBC.

FTC did not respond to the BBC comment.

Ferguson, who was appointed as Chairman of the Federal Trade Committee by Trump, recently He said It is about to “obey legal orders” when he was asked what he would do if the president orders him to drop a lawsuit like a vulnerable against Mita.

Ferguson added that he would be very surprised if anything like that happened.

FTC is the main monopoly control control body. In recent years, hundreds of millions of dollars have returned to fraud victims, as well as laws that prohibit unwanted fees and subscription traps.

But with the start of the Meta experience, among many independent organizational agencies that the administration seems keen to restrain it.

Ferguson’s chair recently Quoted Re -confirm his belief that independent organizational bodies are “not good for democracy.”

FTC V Meta begins as another monopoly -combating state – Usa V Google – is set to enter what is known as the treatment stage.

The Ministry of Justice won the first phase of this case last summer when Judge Amit Mihata found that Google monopolized online search, with a market share of about 90 %.

Last month, the Ministry of Justice repeat A request to be submitted during the Biden administration that the Joogle Monopher Court.

Laura Phillips Surir, a professor participating in the Business Law at the University of Georgia, says the FTC case against Meta will be more striking to prove it.

“I think they have a real arduous battle,” Mrs. Philips Sayer said of FTC.

“They have a long way before looking at Instagram or WhatsApp.”

This is because of the online search, there is more competition in the field of personal network services in which Meta works, Ms. Philips Sayer said.