![Apple to Split Enterprise and Western Europe Roles as VP Exits [Report]](https://www.iclarified.com/images/news/97032/97032/97032-640.jpg)
![Nanoleaf Announces New Pegboard Desk Dock With Dual-Sided Lighting [Video]](https://www.iclarified.com/images/news/97030/97030/97030-640.jpg)
![Apple's Foldable iPhone May Cost Between $2100 and $2300 [Rumor]](https://www.iclarified.com/images/news/97028/97028/97028-640.jpg)
![Alleged Pixel 10 series wallpapers leak with vibrant colors and a strange new theme [Gallery]](https://i0.wp.com/9to5google.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/04/pixel-10-wallpaper-leak-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1){kind=tracking}
![[The AI Show Episode 144]: ChatGPT’s New Memory, Shopify CEO’s Leaked “AI First” Memo, Google Cloud Next Releases, o3 and o4-mini Coming Soon & Llama 4’s Rocky Launch](https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/hubfs/ep%20144%20cover.png)
Lina Khan Says Facebook ‘Panicked’ — And That’s Why It Bought Instagram and WhatsApp
The post Lina Khan Says Facebook ‘Panicked’ — And That’s Why It Bought Instagram and WhatsApp appeared first on Android Headlines.
Summary: As the FTC vs Meta trial begins this week, former FTC chair, Lina Khan talked about the deals that saw Facebook acquire Instagram and WhatsApp. Khan believes that Facebook “Panicked” and bought Instagram and WhatsApp after seeing their astronomical growth.
Lina Khan, the former US FTC chairperson, stated in an interview on CNBC today that Facebook saw companies like Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing “astronomical growth, and that’s the point at which it resorted to this buy-or-bury scheme, where it if couldn’t outcompete a rival, it either bought them out or cut them off its network”.
Khan also stated in the interview that “there’s no expiration date when it comes to the illegality of the transaction. I think there is a way in which the entire social media ecosystem looks different today because Facebook was permitted to go out and make these acquisitions.” She also noted that Facebook “panicked” when it decided to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp, mainly due to smartphone use taking off at the time.
Meta is starting a trial with the FTC today, over monopolistic business practices
On Monday, Meta started its FTC trial, with the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, taking the stand. This trial is about the government alleging that Facebook monopolized the personal social networking market when it acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.
This trial could ultimately result in Meta having to divest the two companies. Which could greatly change the social media landscape as we know it today. Meta, of course, detailed in its pretrial brief that it disagrees with the FTC, and reiterates that it believes the company does not have a monopoly.
Despite Zuckerberg donating $1 million to President Trump’s inauguration fund, Trump’s FTC is continuing on with this trial against Meta and Facebook. Zuckerberg has also reportedly met with the President multiple times since the inauguration.
The post Lina Khan Says Facebook ‘Panicked’ — And That’s Why It Bought Instagram and WhatsApp appeared first on Android Headlines.
