FTC to grill Mark Zuckerberg at antitrust trial as it seeks Instagram breakup amid Big Tech crackdown
The Federal Trade Commission wants to grill Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg next month during an antitrust trial seeking to unwind its Instagram acquisition as the feds ramp up a crackdown on Big Tech.
Zuckerberg is one of several key Meta executives who will be called to testify at the trial, according to a list of witnesses submitted by FTC attorneys in a Wednesday court filing. The trial is slated to begin in April.
The feds said Zuckerberg is expected to be questioned for seven hours – far more than most others included on the list. For example, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom’s testimony is tabbed at an estimated three hours.
Aside from Zuckerberg and Systrom, notable executives included on the FTC’s witness list include former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, current Instagram chief Adam Mosseri and current Meta CEO Javier Olivan.
“We are confident that the evidence at trial will show that the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been good for competition and consumers,” a Meta spokesman said in a statement.
The FTC alleges that the company formerly known as Facebook has maintained an illegal monopoly over the social media marketplace. Specifically, the feds say that the company overpaid to acquire Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014 in order to stifle competition from the would-be rivals.
The feds want to force a breakup of Meta by forcing it to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp as independent companies.
The agency originally filed suit against Meta in 2020 during President Trump’s first term in office. Last November, US District Judge James Boasberg pared down some of the FTC’s claims but said its core argument about Instagram and WhatsApp could proceed to trial.
At the same time, the judge suggested that the FTC faced an uphill battle to prove its claims.
“The Commission faces hard questions about whether its claims can hold up in the crucible of trial,” the judge said. “Indeed, its positions at times strain this country’s creaking antitrust precedents to their limits.”
The FTC, led by Trump-appointed chairman Andrew Ferguson, has signaled it will continue to maintain a hardline stance toward the tech industry.
This week, the FTC confirmed it would pursue a lawsuit against Amazon for alleged deceptive practices involving its Prime subscription service – hours after it asked for a delay in proceedings due to a lack of resources.
“I have made it clear since Day One that we will commit the resources necessary for this case. The Trump-Vance FTC will never back down from taking on Big Tech,” Ferguson said in a statement.
Separately, the FTC is moving forward with a major antitrust probe targeting Microsoft, which began during former President Joe Biden’s term in office.
With Post wires
