Jan Wolfe
Appearances
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
The FTC's general point about consolidation in tech, you know, there's obviously truth to the fact that there are some dominant players that have a ton of power over how we talk online and have tremendous access to our data. But when it comes to meta, I mean— These transactions, the WhatsApp and Instagram transactions, are really old. I mean, we're talking about like almost 15 years ago now.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
And they were approved by the FTC and other regulators at the time. So that's, I think, rhetorically a difficult thing for the FTC to get across.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
This case has moved really slowly, which is often the case for these complex antitrust lawsuits. And I think, you know, don't expect quick resolution of it from this point, unless there's a settlement, because there's still a lot to do.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
I mean, this is an enormously important case because meta is such an important vehicle for just communicating. And it has all this data on us. So, I mean, the stakes are really enormous. And I think the case matters a lot from that perspective. So we'll definitely be keeping a close eye on it.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
The Trump administration's legal arm is suing Google for antitrust violations.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
Well, I came back to the bureau from the courthouse. We're on a lunch break right now in the trial in the FTC's civil lawsuit against Meadow.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
I mean, Zuckerberg's wearing a suit and tie like, you know, he has, I think, rolled out a relatively new wardrobe in the last year or two. You know, more T-shirts, sort of more like, I don't know, edgy fashion. You know, he's just up there.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
Gold chain and all that. Like, you know, suit and tie.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
The FTC alleges that Meta violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. And there's a section of that saying that you can't establish a monopoly through unlawful conduct. And the alleged unlawful conduct here is the acquisition of two smaller startups that were threatening Meta's formerly Facebook's business model, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
There's one where he and a colleague are talking about why it would be beneficial to buy Instagram. And the Zuckerberg colleague said that one reason would be to neutralize a potential competitor. And then Zuckerberg replies that that is a partial consideration here.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
So the FTC has said this is about as close to a smoking gun as you can get because their whole theory of the case is that Facebook, now Meta, bought Instagram, bought WhatsApp to neutralize competition from a startup. Why was that moment important? It's rare that you get evidence that really gets to the heart of the case like this.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
So, you know, from the FTC's perspective, this is like pretty damaging. It's a real glimpse into the mindset at the time and really supports their theory that the Instagram purchase and the WhatsApp purchase was really about putting on the sidelines competition from rival upstarts.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
His point is we bought Instagram because we thought it had really good technology. We wanted to incorporate it into our platform and we wanted to make it better. So Zuckerberg has pointed out that the Instagram founders stayed around for years afterward. And he says that's not consistent with the FTC's theory. He called it a buy versus build analysis.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
And he says there's nothing wrong with that in the Silicon Valley context. Sometimes you just buy a startup and a startup is happy to have that exit.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
So this Facebook antitrust case is very different than what he's used to handling. He's acknowledged that he's not like a tech savvy guy. And there was a tutorial before the trial where a social media analyst explained really basic concepts about social media to him. And he's like, what is tagging? I think I know what it is, but when someone says I tagged you in this, what does that mean?
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
So he's not like some tech expert, but you don't need to be either.
The Journal.
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
I mean, what Meta is saying is we compete with TikTok, we compete with iMessage, we compete with YouTube for people's screen time online. We are not primarily about friends and family. Yes, we have that use case. Yes, that's how we started. But we are a discovery portal. You come here to be entertained and find content, and then you can share that with your friends on all kinds of other platforms.