Mark Zuckerberg could soon be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp

An antitrust trial against Meta has kicked off in Washington today (14 April) as CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been accused of eliminating competition in the tech space by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The competition and consumer watchdog has said Meta's acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 has given them its own monopoly - even though at the time, the FTC did approve both acquisitions with a commitment to monitoring how it played out.

Now, however, according to a report by the BBC, Zuckerberg might be forced to sell both platforms if the FTC's allegations are proven correct in court.

The FTC's argument

"The [FTC's] argument is the acquisition of Instagram was a way of neutralising this rising competitive threat to Facebook," explained Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor of antitrust at Vanderbilt Law School.

She told the BBC that Zuckerberg once said: "It's better to buy than to compete."

"It's hard to get more literal than that," the professor added.

Meta's argument

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called out Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg (VINCENT FEURAY/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

Allensworth predicts that Meta will argue that intent isn't relevant in such a case.

"They're going to say the real question is: are consumers better off as a result of this merger?," she said.

"They'll put on a lot of evidence that Instagram became what it is today because it benefited from being owned by Facebook."

According to The Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg asked US President Donald Trump to drop the case in his first term in charge.

Meta denies the allegations made by the FTC (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

He has reportedly visited the White House three times at the start of his second term.

Meta refused to confirm the claims, telling the BBC that 'the FTC's lawsuits against Meta defies reality.'

"More than 10 years after the FTC reviewed and cleared our acquisitions, the commission's action in this case sends the message that no deal is ever truly final," a Meta spokesperson said.

The relationship between the pair also may be strained after Meta barred Trump from Facebook after the US Capitol riot in January 2021. And it's important to note that Trump sacked two FTC commissioners last month.

The FTC has 'a long road ahead'

Laura Phillips-Sawyer, an associate professor of business law at the University of Georgia, told the BBC that the FTC has 'a real uphill battle.'

"They have a long road before any consideration of divestiture of Instagram or WhatsApp is considered," she said.

Meta said in a statement prior to the trial that 'every 17-year-old in the world knows' that the company is facing plenty of competition from the likes of TikTok, YouTube, X 'and many others'.

LADbible Group has contacted the FTC and Meta for comment.