The former goal Coo Sheryl Sandberg Toke Toke to face an intense interrogation of the FTC on Wednesday while the agency seeks to break the giant of Mark Zuckerberg’s social networks.
Bloomberg reports that Sheryl Sandberg, former director of Meta Operations and Mark Zuckerberg in second place, touched the position as a key witness for the FTC. The agency argues that Instagram target acquisitions in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 cool an illegal monopoly in the social networking industry and seeks to undo those agreements.
As the second in command of the acquisitions, Sandberg played a crucial role in the company’s commercial strategy. The FTC did not waste time when trying to undermine its credibility, presenting contradictory statements that it made with respect to the main purpose of Facebook users and the Instagram value.
When asked if the majority of Facebook users used the service to stay connected to friends and family, Sandberg Initial declared that it was “probable not” the case for when the company left. However, when he faced his deposition testimony since September 2022, in which he affirmed that in fact it was the majority of user activity, he quickly modified his response.
The FTC also highlighted an email exchange between Sandberg and the CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the time of Instagram acquisition, in which Zuckerberg asked if they had paid excessively for the application to share photos. Sandberg had responded: “Yes, or of course, it’s too much.” However, duration of her testimony, she retreated, declaring: “I don’t think anyone would say that we pay too much for Instagram.”
As Breitbart News reported previously, the FTC argues that Facebook paid excessively for Instagram and WhatsApp as a “murderous acquisition” to get the way out of the way:
The FTC alleges that Instagram and WhatsApp’s goal purchases were “murderous acquisitions” designed to eliminate competition and maintain a monopoly in the social media market. Matheson argued that after acquiring Instagram, goal “fundamentally manipulated the experience” sacrificed by service to avoid cannibalizing its own most profitable Facebook product, a decision that “offends politics” or antitrust laws.
The FTC believes that Zuckerberg was specifically looking for rival social networks focused on connecting with friends and family. Zuckerberg testified that while friends and family are an important Facebook component, they are not the only approach. He said: “We always have a service that allows you to discover and learn about what is happening in the world.”
Goal has vehemently denied the monopoly statements of the FTC, stating that it helped Instagram and WhatsApp achieve growth far beyond what they could have achieved independently. The company also disputes the notion of dominating social networks, emphasizing the intense competition of several platforms such as Tiktok, Snapchat, YouTube, Apple Issassage and X (previously Twitter).
The FTC presented evidence that suggests the power monopoly power in the social media market, including a presentation of the March 2018 Board that showed a decrease in user satisfaction after the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. Despite this, “there was no visible impact on central commitment metrics”, which tells the FTC that consumers lacked alternative options.
Sandberg was also questioned about the alleged finishing efforts for competitors’ disadvantages when blocking their Facebook ads. In a July 2011 message about the launch of the Google Social Network Service, Google+, Sandberg wrote that “for the first time we have real competition and consumers have a real option.” However, he later argued with Zuckerberg if he blocks the promotion of ads on Google+, stating: “I would block Google.”
From the witness position, Sandberg tried to rethink his comments about Google as the only real goal competitor, claiming that he made those statements to “gather the troops” and that it was not a “fair reading of history.”
As the trial continues, Sandberg is expected to face more questions about commercial target decisions and their potential impact on WhatsApp and Instagram users. Given its role in the supervision of target advertising operations, the FTC will probably investigate whether decisions harmed consumers by increasing the number of ads and monitoring data privacy protections.
Read more in Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter of Knitbart News that cover issues of freedom of expression and online censorship.