The first week of the Meta antitrust trial has brought to light new revelations about the company's approach to competition, particularly its handling of Instagram in the early 2010s. The U.S. government is accusing Meta of violating competition laws by acquiring companies like Instagram and WhatsApp, which threatened Facebook's monopoly. If the government is successful, it could force Meta to break up its business by selling off Instagram and WhatsApp.

As part of the trial, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has shared compelling evidence that demonstrates Facebook's awareness of the risk Instagram posed to its business as the photo-sharing app grew in popularity. Internal emails from Facebook executives show their concerns over Instagram's rapid growth and discussions about how much to pay for the app if Facebook were to acquire it.

The emails also reveal Facebook's strategies for limiting Instagram's growth, including copying its functionality and releasing a competing app, or buying the app and then no longer adding new features to it while focusing on its own products. This "buy or bury" approach is at the heart of the government's arguments, highlighting the cutthroat tactics that have enabled Meta to become the social networking behemoth it is today.

Some of the most revealing emails come from Mark Zuckerberg himself, who expressed concerns over Instagram's growth and its potential to threaten Facebook's dominance. In February 2011, Zuckerberg wrote, "Instagram seems like it's growing quickly. In 4 months they're up to 2m users and 30k daily photo uploads. That's a lot. We need to track this closely." Later that year, he noted, "If Instagram continues to kick ass on mobile, or if Google buys them, then over the next few years they could easily add pieces of their service that copy what we're doing now, and if they have a growing number of people's photos then that's a real issue for us."

Other executives, such as Chris Cox, chief product officer, also weighed in on Instagram's growth, acknowledging that Facebook's own mobile photo app was struggling to compete. Cox wrote, "The photos team is now focused almost exclusively on a new mobile photo app as we gawk at Instagram's simple photo-sharing app taking off (and even our own app sees fat growth … mobile uploads increased to 17.7M day, +5.3 w/w)."

The emails also show Facebook's consideration of acquiring Instagram, with Zuckerberg suggesting that the company pay up to $500 million for the app. He wrote, "I wonder if we should consider buying Instagram, even if it costs ~500M. Right now they seem to have two things that we don't: a really good camera and a photo-centric sharing network." If Facebook were to acquire Instagram, Zuckerberg proposed keeping the app running but not adding new features, instead focusing on Facebook's own products.

The implications of these revelations are significant, highlighting the aggressive tactics that Meta has employed to maintain its dominance in the social media space. As the trial continues, it remains to be seen whether the government will be successful in its efforts to break up Meta's business. However, one thing is clear: the company's approach to competition has been far from transparent, and its willingness to acquire or limit the growth of rival apps has had a profound impact on the social media landscape.

The outcome of this trial will have far-reaching implications for the tech industry as a whole, potentially setting a precedent for how companies approach competition and innovation. As the trial continues, we will be watching closely to see how the government's arguments unfold and what the ultimate consequences will be for Meta and the social media landscape.