Will Meta be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, and what impact would this have?

So what is the social media giant accused of, and what impact will this lawsuit have?

Meta's headquarters in California. Photo: Getty Images

What is Meta accused of?

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Meta of buying Instagram and WhatsApp more than 10 years ago to eliminate competitors, which coincides with a directive Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly gave in 2008: “It’s better to buy than compete.”

Instagram is a popular photo and video sharing application that allows users to upload, edit and share visual content with friends or the public. WhatsApp is a free internet messaging application that allows users to send messages, make voice and video calls and send files to anyone with an internet connection.

When Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, emails read in court showed Zuckerberg was concerned about Facebook's performance and thought Instagram was growing rapidly.

Instagram is the first company Facebook has acquired and allowed to continue operating as a separate app. Previously, Facebook had only bought startups to acquire talent and then shut them down.

Two years later, Facebook went on to buy WhatsApp and also let it operate as a standalone app, both of which were approved by the FTC at the time.

Meta has denied the FTC’s allegations, calling it a “weak lawsuit” that “ignores the facts.” The company also said it faces competition from other social media companies.

“The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram is competing with TikTok (and Youtube, X and many others),” Meta said in a statement at the beginning of the trial.

Mark Zuckerberg appeared as the first witness at the trial and initially told prosecutors that he wanted to buy Instagram for its camera technology, not its social network. However, FTC lawyers read back messages from Zuckerberg in 2012 in which he talked about the importance of “deactivating” Instagram.

What impact will the lawsuit have?

The trial is expected to last two months. If the FTC wins, Meta could be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. This may not have an immediate impact on how people use social media, but in the long run, it could make social media management easier, said Dr. Steven Buckey, a digital sociology lecturer at City Saint George's University.

“If [Meta] were to be broken up, it would be much easier for lawmakers and regulators to control the issues of each individual platform. It would be much easier to enforce regulations and ensure that the platforms serve users properly,” said Dr. Buckley.

Whether these platforms change will depend on who buys them, according to Dr Buckley. A wave of employee departures like the one that happened to Elon Musk’s social network X last year is possible, but that’s entirely up to the platform owners.

Losing Instagram would also be disastrous for Meta. While the company doesn’t break out revenue for each app, advertising research firm Emarketer predicts Instagram will generate $37.13 billion this year, accounting for more than half of Meta’s U.S. ad revenue. Instagram also generates more average revenue per user than any other social media platform, including Facebook.

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(translated and compiled from Sky News)

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/khoa-hoc-cong-nghe/202504/lieu-meta-co-bi-buoc-phai-ban-instagram-va-whatsapp-va-dieu-nay-se-anh-huong-nhu-the-nao-f854b7c/