Could Meta be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp – and would it matter? – Sky News

Meta could be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp if it loses a landmark trial that just started in the US. So, what is the social media giant accused of, and what could the court case mean for all of us? What is Meta accused of?The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is accusing Meta of buying Instagram and WhatsApp over a decade ago to neutralise its competition, in line with Mark Zuckerberg’s alleged 2008 directive that “it is better to buy than compete”.When Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, emails read out in court show that Zuckerberg was worried about Facebook’s performance and that he thought Instagram was growing rapidly. Image: The US District Court for the District of Columbia building where the trial is taking place. Pic: Reuters Instagram was the first company Facebook bought that was allowed to carry on running as a separate app – before then, it simply bought startups for their talented workers and then shut down the smaller company.Two years later, it bought WhatsApp and ran that as a separate app too. Both sales were approved by the FTC at the time. Meta denies the FTC’s claims and called the case a “weak lawsuit” that “ignores
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