Meta is urging a federal judge to reject the FTC's claim that the company violates antitrust laws by monopolizing the “personal social networking services” market, by arguing that such a market does not exist. Good grief Meta! Really?!
The company argues that Facebook, which once was a social network, has evolved into a “diverse global provider of entertaining and informative content that competes with increasingly similar social apps including TikTok, YouTube, iMessage, and others.” It claims that only 7% of time spent on Instagram and 17% of time spent on Facebook involve consuming content from friends, while the rest is spent watching short-form videos and engaging with other non-friend content.
That's because you keep shoving that other content down our throats! The majority of user joined Facebook and Instagram to connect with family and friends, and then you pulled the rug out from under their feet so that you could become a TikTok clone.
And let me ask you this, Facebook: Comparably how much time is spent consuming content from friends on TikTok, YouTube, and those other platforms? 0% or an inconsequential amount? Boom… roasted. You're a social network.
The company's new filing comes in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the FTC in December 2020, when the agency alleged that Meta's acquisition of Instagram ($1B in 2012) and WhatsApp ($19B in 2014) enabled the company to maintain a monopoly and preserve its dominance in the “personal social networking market.”
I'm curious to see what happens with this case. I doubt anything will come of it, as the FTC are the ones who originally approved the acquisitions more than a decade ago, but we will see.
