Zuckerberg spoke in a monotone as he read aloud old posts and internal emails outlining his thinking ahead of the Instagram acquisition, prompted by FTC attorney Matheson.
The Meta boss also rejected allegations that the 2012 and 2014 acquisitions were aimed at stifling rivals, even as the FTC maintained that the acquisitions helped his company secure an unlawful monopoly over content-sharing apps.
The FTC’s case hinges on internal emails from as early as 2008, where Zuckerberg appeared to suggest it was easier to acquire emerging rivals than compete with them.
At the time of their acquisitions, Instagram had about 30 million users and was bought for $1 billion, while WhatsApp, with around 450 million users, was acquired for $19 billion. Both have since outpaced Facebook’s growth, according to The New York Times.