What Next | Daily News and Analysis TBD | The U.S. vs Meta
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Apr 18, 2025 Paresh Dave, a senior writer at WIRED, dives deep into the intense antitrust trial facing Meta. He discusses the historical context of Facebook's bold acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, outlining the strategic motivations behind these moves. The conversation highlights the FTC's case that could redefine Meta's future, potentially breaking it up as a monopoly. Paresh also touches on the broader implications for big tech, shedding light on how this legal battle may influence market dynamics and future acquisitions across the industry.
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Early Facebook Acquisitions Normalized
- Facebook acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 was seen as typical Silicon Valley growth through startup acquisitions.
- At the time, there was little public or regulatory pushback against such deals since Meta wasn't labeled as big tech yet.
FTC's Narrow Market Definition
- The FTC defines Facebook's market narrowly as personal social networking focusing on connecting family and friends.
- This excludes TikTok and YouTube from Facebook's competition, inflating Facebook's market share to over 80%.
Facebook's Product Degradation
- Facebook shifted from family and friend sharing towards video content like TikTok and YouTube over time.
- The product degraded due to less focus on user experience, relying instead on more ads, showing harm to consumers.