Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook (now known as Meta Platforms), has defended his company in a Washington D.C. court on the first day of the antitrust trial that could require the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.
Much of the day, the prosecutors in the case went through Facebook's history since its launch in 2004, and only at the end of the day did they begin to delve into the core of the case, the acquisition first of Instagram and later of WhatsApp, as reported by Efe.
The prosecution believes that Facebook bought Instagram to get rid of an increasingly strong competitor that threatened its control among users.
Prosecutors have confronted Zuckerberg with emails and messages detailing the process that led to the acquisition of the mobile photo-sharing application.
The social network wanted to acquire Instagram, the entrepreneur indicated at the time, due to the "huge number" of people using the app to share an increasing number of images, while Facebook users only posted "a few photos."
Facebook tried to address the issue by developing its own photo-sharing app, called Facebook Camera, but the project was not progressing at the desired speed.
"I'm concerned that we are far behind," wrote Zuckerberg.
In another email, the entrepreneur seemed to suggest acquiring Instagram - which Facebook bought in 2012 - to keep the app alive, but without developments that would strengthen its position.
In one of those emails, Zuckerberg reasoned that this way Facebook would prevent "everyone" from hating them for ending Instagram while thwarting rivals' attempts to take their space.
But in response to prosecutors' questions, Zuckerberg argued that Facebook did not freeze Instagram's development, while Meta's lawyers argued that the app has improved and increased its user base.
Zuckerberg also explained that Facebook's core has changed over time and has moved away from connecting friends or families, as it was initially, to become a "discovery engine" of what is happening in the world.
Before Zuckerberg's testimony, his company's lawyers explained that Meta is not a monopoly for various reasons, including that Meta's acquisitions were in favor of competition and produced "extraordinary efficiencies" in both Instagram and WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg is expected to testify in court again on Tuesday to continue his testimony, which should focus on the acquisitions of these two applications.