Interestingly, during his testimony, Zuckerberg pointed to changes in Meta's user data display mechanisms since 2017. Amid escalating competition, the company stopped publishing Facebook user numbers separately and instead adopted the "app family" metric, which combines data from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This change, according to analysts, was not merely for simplicity, but rather an attempt to inflate overall user numbers and suggest stable growth, at a time when individual platforms were clearly losing ground to new competitors, particularly TikTok, which has attracted a large audience of young people.
While the FTC emphasized Meta's attempts to weaken competition, the trial highlighted previous attempts to acquire apps like Snapchat, which rejected Meta's offers. In response to a query from FTC lawyers, Zuckerberg said he believed acquiring Snapchat would have given it a growth boost, but he did not confirm this definitively. Internal correspondence revealed that Meta was constantly looking for new ways to outperform its competitors, even if it required radical steps, such as proposing to delete entire friend lists or spin off Instagram into a separate company. These ideas, though strange, reflect the level of concern within the company about its waning market influence.
This case comes at a time when major tech companies around the world are experiencing increasing regulatory pressure, particularly in the United States and Europe. Meta's trial is seen as a significant test of regulators' ability to rein in tech giants and enforce fairer rules in a highly competitive market. At the same time, TikTok also faces legal and regulatory challenges in the United States, related to data security and concerns about dependence on the Chinese government. This intersection of security and antitrust concerns complicates the regulatory landscape, placing companies between the hammer of innovation and the anvil of stringent regulations.
Conclusion
In light of this escalation, it appears that Meta will be forced to reconsider many of its strategies, not only to avoid legal dissolution, but also to regain the trust of users and regulators alike. It will also be forced to continue developing its technologies and focus on artificial intelligence and virtual reality to compensate for the decline of its traditional services. While the market is closely monitoring developments in this case, one thing is certain: the digital future will see a major reshaping of the rules of the game, and Meta will not be immune to this inevitable change, especially if it loses the legal battle before the Federal Trade Commission.