Tech Rivals Testify as FTC Antitrust Trial Against Meta Enters Defining Phase

Executives from top social media platforms including TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, Pinterest, and Discord appeared in federal court over the past week, offering testimony in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust trial against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

The high-stakes case, now entering its third week in Washington, centers on whether Meta operates as an illegal monopoly within what the FTC has defined as the market for “personal social networking services.” According to Bloomberg, this classification is crucial to the FTC’s broader effort to compel Meta to divest two of its most prominent acquisitions: Instagram and WhatsApp.

While Meta insists it faces stiff competition from a wide array of tech platforms, the FTC contends that Meta dominates a distinct market characterized by platforms that facilitate direct sharing among friends and family — a space that, according to the agency, most rivals have purposefully avoided.

Throughout the trial, lawyers for the FTC have spotlighted differences between Meta’s platforms and its alleged competitors. Per Bloomberg, the agency has emphasized how services like X and Reddit allow anonymous participation and pseudonyms, unlike Facebook, which requires real-name usage. Meanwhile, TikTok has distanced itself from Meta’s core function altogether. In a 2022 interview cited in court, former TikTok executive Blake Chandlee drew a stark distinction: “We are an entertainment platform,” he said, describing the divergence as “a massive difference.”

Testimony from other tech executives echoed similar themes. Keith Coleman, a senior product leader at X, stated in court that most of the platform’s engagement revolves around following people users don’t personally know, reinforcing X’s positioning as a network based on interests rather than personal relationships.

Despite such efforts by competitors to brand themselves differently, Meta’s legal team has pointed to overlapping features that they argue place these platforms in the same competitive arena. According to Bloomberg, the company has highlighted “friend-finding” functions built into services like Discord and TikTok, as well as help page language from X that described it as a service for “friends, families and coworkers to stay connected.”

Related: FTC v. Meta Trial Turns to Market Definition

Still, some of the very executives whose products contained such messaging appeared reluctant to embrace that framing. When asked about X’s reference to personal connections, Coleman distanced himself, saying, “I don’t know who wrote that… I can’t believe that’s on the website.”

Meta’s argument rests on a broader interpretation of its evolution as a platform. In testimony earlier in the trial, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said content from friends and family makes up a shrinking portion of what users now see on Facebook and Instagram. The company contends that its products have increasingly moved toward algorithmic content discovery and short-form video, thereby competing directly with platforms like TikTok.

Meanwhile, the FTC has used discovery documents and past communications from other tech firms to reinforce its case. In one email, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey noted that while personal networking was an option for Twitter to explore, he felt the company should remain focused on public, interest-based interaction — citing Facebook as already owning the personal networking space.

As the trial progresses, the burden now falls on U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to determine whether Meta’s alleged market dominance warrants a forced separation of its business.

Source: Bloomberg