The early years has witnessed Facebook, now Meta, exert its dominance over the social media market by acquiring companies like Instagram and WhatsApp, but FTC believes that the company has been stifling the competition in the process and has taken it to court in an effort to subdue its control. However, it will not be a walk in the park for the U.S. agency because Meta’s lawyers are well prepared for this confrontation, stating that its important applications are free for millions to use. Lawyers mention that Meta’s apps have improved substantially in quality while also pointing out the company’s growth In a U.S. federal court, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented his argument to a judge, defending the social media platform. However, the FTC had their own arsenal ready, showing that Zuckerberg wrote in an internal email that he wanted to crush a potential competitor, before acquiring Instagram in 2012. Shortly after, in 2014, before purchasing WhatsApp, Zuckerberg wrote another email stating that the messaging service was a big risk for Meta. Naturally, FTC’s lawyer, Daniel Matheson, came forth and said that the motivation for acquiring these companies was to prevent the alternatives from becoming sizable threats. Instead of competing with them, Matheson says that Meta sought the easiest solution; buying out its rivals. With this tactic, the FTC lawyer says that consumers have to play around with lower-quality social media apps, while Meta focuses on boosting its profits. As expected, Meta’s lawyer, Mark Hansen, had the counterattack ready, with NPR reporting that both Instagram and WhatsApp were acquired to improve them. He also doubles down on Meta not being a monopoly because it has never raised prices on consumers, and none of its major applications require a fee, as its competitors do not charge users any form of payment either. Additionally, Hansen argues that if Meta were to charge users, it would lose customers and consequently suffer revenue drops. He also says that Meta’s growth is a strong indicator that more and more people are inclined to use the company’s apps, mentioning ‘That’s economics 101:’ people will use more of something the better it becomes. As reported by BBC, Laura Phillips-Sawyer, an associate professor of business law at the University of Georgia, says that FTC’s case against Meta will be ‘a real uphill battle.’ Other experts believe that the outcome depends on how the judge views the lawyers’ definitions of monopoly, though the emails presented by FTC’s lawyers could provide some weightage. News Source: The New York Times Deal of the Day