A trial that could force social media giant Meta to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp starts in the US on Monday.
The tech conglomerate, which also owns Facebook, is facing an antitrust lawsuit from the US government that alleges the company acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 in an effort to eliminate competition, thereby creating a monopoly in the social media space.
The FTC cleared the deals at the time, but the antitrust watchdog is still monitoring the situation, and experts say if it wins the case and forces Meta to split up, it could change the social media landscape.
Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, said the potential fallout from the case and the uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future could lead to a “new world order in social media.”
“These legal consequences, coupled with TikTok’s uncertain future, potentially threaten the very core of the social media market. Meta will no longer be a key player.
“We haven’t seen anything like this since 2006 to 2011, the very early days of social media platforms.
“We will likely see a resurgence of social media startups trying to carve out a niche in the new order of the industry.”
Mr Proulx also said that while Facebook is an original and central part of the Meta empire, it will struggle to compete as a powerful social network and may have to change its focus.
“Meta is trying to bring Facebook back to the peak of popularity, but Instagram has long been the company’s social “layer.”
“What is Meta without Instagram and WhatsApp? Can Facebook seriously compete with a standalone Instagram? Can Threads achieve significant monetization? I doubt it. And the company shouldn't rely too much on its as-yet-unfulfilled ambitions in the metaverse.
“Her artificial intelligence (AI) initiative is a bright spot, as is the broader work in this area.
“This implies that if Meta is split, its AI initiatives will overshadow its social media roots.”
The trial, which begins in Washington on Monday, is expected to last several weeks. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg are expected to testify.
Meta isn't the only American tech giant under scrutiny for its perceived monopoly: Google is also facing the possibility of selling its Chrome browser and breaking up its online search empire.
After a judge found last year that the company was indeed
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
