During the Meta monopoly trial, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom accused Mark Zuckerberg of deliberately stifling Instagram’s growth due to jealousy. According to Systrom, Zuckerberg may have been emotionally invested in Facebook’s superiority over Instagram. By 2025, Instagram is projected to generate over half of Meta’s ad revenue, surpassing Facebook in per-user ad revenue since 2019.
Systrom testified that Zuckerberg’s strategy seemed suspicious, leading him to leave the company in 2018. A 2018 email revealed Zuckerberg considered selling Instagram to prevent it from undermining Facebook’s network. Systrom claimed Meta viewed Instagram as a threat to Facebook’s growth, suggesting that slowing Instagram’s expansion would delay Facebook’s stagnation.
Tensions between Zuckerberg and Systrom began before the acquisition. In 2012, Zuckerberg emphasized Facebook’s mission to expand human social capacity beyond Dunbar’s number, which limits relationships to about 150. Despite initial promises to let Instagram operate independently, Meta allegedly starved it of resources, such as denying additional staffing for video tools in 2017.
The FTC argues that Meta monopolized personal social networks by acquiring Instagram. If successful, the FTC could force Meta to spin off Instagram, introducing competition. Zuckerberg has historically downplayed Facebook’s rivals, claiming no direct competition with platforms like MySpace. However, critics argue Meta faces little real competition.
— new from Ars Technica