Facebook Sought To 'Neutralize' Competitive Threats, FTC Argues As Landmark Antitrust Trial Begins

An anonymous reader shares a report: An attorney for the Federal Trade Commission told a judge that Facebook, fearing the competitive threat of Instagram posted to their social media network, acquired both as a way to 'neutralize' the rival. 'They decided that competition was too hard,' the FTC's attorney, Daniel Matheson, said in his opening statement in the government's antitrust case against the Meta Platforms social media empire.

He argued that with Meta's monopoly in social media, 'consumers do not have reasonable alternatives they can turn to,' even as satisfaction has declined. At stake is the potential breakup of Facebook-parent Meta, as the government has zeroed in on the 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp.

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