Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, took the stand in a Washington, DC courtroom on April 15, 2025, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began its antitrust trial against the tech giant. The FTC is arguing that Meta should be forced to spin off its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp, which it acquired in 2012 and 2014, respectively, citing anti-competitive practices that have allegedly locked out other companies from the market.

Zuckerberg's testimony was a key moment in the trial, as he was questioned by the FTC's lead attorney, Daniel Matheson, about Meta's early history and its decision to acquire Instagram. Matheson walked Zuckerberg through a series of internal emails and messages, highlighting the company's concerns about Instagram's rapid growth and its potential threat to Facebook's dominance. In one email, Zuckerberg described Instagram as "really scary" for Facebook, and expressed frustration with the slow pace of development of Facebook's own photos app, Facebook Camera.

Despite the FTC's allegations, Zuckerberg downplayed the threat Instagram posed to Facebook at the time, saying that he didn't recall the app being a major competitor. He also emphasized Meta's mission to connect friends and family, and argued that the company's acquisitions were intended to further that goal, rather than stifle competition.

The FTC's case hinges on its definition of the market for "personal social networking services," which it argues is dominated by Meta. The agency claims that Meta owns nearly 80% of active users in this market, which includes only Snapchat and MeWe, a smaller social media platform. Meta, on the other hand, argues that the market is much broader, and includes services like TikTok, iMessage, and YouTube.

During Meta's opening arguments, the company's lead lawyer, Mark Hansen, presented internal data showing how Facebook and Instagram usage increased when TikTok was briefly offline in the US earlier this year. He also presented data showing that YouTube's usage increased far more than Snapchat's during a Facebook outage in 2021. Hansen argued that the FTC's market definition is artificially narrow, and that the company's influence is not as dominant as the agency claims.

The trial is expected to continue for several weeks, with the FTC needing to prove not only that Meta has monopoly power in a relevant market, but also that the company illegally acted to achieve or maintain its dominant position. The outcome of the trial could have significant implications for the tech industry, and could potentially lead to the breakup of Meta into smaller companies.

In the meantime, Zuckerberg's testimony provided a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Meta, and highlighted the company's aggressive efforts to expand its reach and influence. As the trial continues, it remains to be seen whether the FTC will be able to prove its case against Meta, and what the consequences will be for the company and the tech industry as a whole.