The world’s most powerful social media empire is about to be cross-examined, and not on a mainstream media soundstage or another limp congressional hearing where senators confuse cookies with actual cookies. No, this time Mark Zuckerberg has to answer under oath.
Welcome to the FTC’s antitrust trial against Meta, a trial over a decade in the making. For years, Zuckerberg’s “buy, not build” strategy turned Silicon Valley’s supposed innovation hub into a garage sale of once-independent apps. Instagram and WhatsApp were picked off like cheap grapes, all while regulators clapped politely from the sidelines. But now, the Federal Trade Commission is finally dusting off its spine and attempting to unwind the deals it green-lit years ago.
