Zuckerberg Reveals Why Meta Bought Instagram in Trial

Two Things Zuckerberg Admitted at Meta’s Antitrust Trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent about 10 hours this week in the hot seat defending his company in the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit — one that could force Meta to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Here are the key takeaways:

🔹 Meta Bought Instagram for Its Camera Features
“Building a new app is hard,” Zuckerberg testified. “I thought that Instagram was better at [camera functions than Facebook], so I thought it was better to buy them.” His words underscore the FTC’s core argument: Meta acquired emerging competitors instead of building to compete.

🔹 Zuckerberg Didn’t Take TikTok Seriously at First
He admitted that ByteDance’s TikTok wasn’t initially seen as a major competitor — but has now become Meta’s “highest competitive threat.”

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The Bigger Picture:

• The FTC argues Meta stifled competition by buying rivals like Instagram and WhatsApp.
• They point to internal discussions where Zuckerberg even considered selling Instagram due to “a non-trivial chance” of antitrust action.
• Meta’s defense? That past intentions are irrelevant — and that the company faces fierce competition from TikTok, YouTube, X, and even LinkedIn.
• The FTC counters that Meta’s apps are friend-to-friend networks, with Snapchat being their only real competitor in that category.

💰 Reportedly, Zuckerberg even tried to settle the case last month by offering $450 million to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson — but no deal was made.