Washington: The hearing of the landmark antitrust lawsuit against social media giant Meta began in a Washington court on Monday. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges that Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to crush competition and establish a monopoly on the market. If the FTC wins, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg may have to sell both these platforms, which would be a major blow to the company’s $1.3 trillion empire.

The FTC claims that Meta stifled innovation by buying emerging competitors. “The acquisition of Instagram was a strategy to reduce competitive pressure on Facebook,” said Rebecca Allensworth, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School. Meta, on the other hand, argues that these acquisitions gave consumers a better experience. “The FTC’s lawsuit goes beyond the facts by ignoring competitive markets like TikTok and YouTube,” a company spokesperson said. Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg are expected to testify. The case began in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first term. According to recent reports, Zuckerberg tried to reach a settlement with Trump, but no agreement was reached. Experts believe that the verdict of this case will shape the future of the social media market and tech regulation.

Disclaimer: This information is based on news sources.