Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in antitrust trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the witness stand on the first day of a historic antitrust trial to defend his company against allegations it illegally monopolized the social media market.

The trial could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups Meta bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.

Federal Trade Commission attorney Daniel Matheson called Zuckerberg as the first witness, as it seeks to prove that Meta acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to preserve its monopoly in the social networking space.

At the trial, Matheson focused on a communication sent to colleagues that illustrated Zuckerberg’s frustration with a lack of progress on developing a photo-sharing app to compete with Instagram’s.

“The way I read this message is that I’m not happy about how we’re executing on that project,” Zuckerberg said.

Matheson followed up by asking if that was because of Instagram’s rapid growth.

“That does seem to be what I’m highlighting,” Zuckerberg said, adding that he’s always urging his teams to do better.

Later in the day, Zuckerberg appeared frustrated when Matheson asked him about his concerns expressed about how fast Instagram was growing.

“I don’t have the full timeline of Instagram’s development in my head,” Zuckerberg said, when Matheson asked him about his mention of its growth. “You could probably get that better from somebody else.”

Matheson also asked about comments of plans to keep Instagram running, while focusing on Facebook and not investing in Instagram. Zuckerberg said he wouldn't characterize it as a plan, and he insisted that Instagram wasn't neglected.

“In practice, we ended up investing a ton in it after we acquired it," Zuckerberg, who testified most of the afternoon, said.

In opening statements, Matheson said Meta has used its position to generate enormous profits even as consumer satisfaction has dropped. He said Meta was “erecting a moat” to protect its interests by buying the two startups.

Facebook bought Instagram — then a scrappy photo-sharing app with no ads and a small cult following — in 2012.

Two years later, it acquired messaging app WhatsApp, which it purchased for $22 billion.

The trial will be the first big test of President Donald Trump’s Federal Trade Commission’s ability to challenge Big Tech. The lawsuit was filed against Meta — then called Facebook — in 2020, during Trump's first term. It claims the company bought Instagram and WhatsApp to squash competition and establish an illegal monopoly in the social media market.