Still, for Meta, the stakes are high, as the FTC could pursue a breakup of the company, including requiring Meta to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram.
Losing Instagram would hit Meta's revenue hard, as Instagram is supposed to bring in more than half of its US ad revenue in 2025, eMarketer forecasted last December.The trial is expected to last eight weeks, but much of the most-anticipated testimony will come early.
Facebook's former chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, as well as Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, are expected to testify this week.All unsealed emails and exhibits will eventually be posted on a website jointly managed by the FTC and Meta, but Ars was not yet provided a link or timeline for when the public evidence will be posted online.The FTC is arguing that Meta overpaid to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp to maintain an alleged monopoly in the personal social networking market that includes rivals like Snapchat and MeWe, a social networking platform that brands itself as a privacy-focused Facebook alternative.In opening arguments, the FTC alleged that once competition was eliminated, Meta then degraded the quality of its platforms by limiting user privacy and inundating users with ads.Meta has defended its acquisitions by arguing that it has improved Instagram and WhatsApp.
At trial, Meta's lawyer Hansen made light of the FTC's "ad load theory," stirring laughter in the reportedly packed courtroom, Benedict posted on X."If you don't like an ad, you scroll past it.
It takes about a second," Hansen said.Meanwhile, Newstead, who reportedly attended opening arguments, argued in her blog that "Instagram and WhatsApp provide a model for what successful acquisitions can achieve: Meta has made Instagram and WhatsApp better, more reliable and more secure through billions of dollars and millions of hours of investment."