Meta resorted to 'buy-or-bury scheme' with Instagram and WhatsApp deals, former FTC Chair Lina Khan says

Former U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan said Monday that Facebook "panicked" when making the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp as smartphone use took off. "It 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, if it couldn't out-compete a rival, it either bought them out or cut them off its network," Khan said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Meta , the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, begins a trial with the FTC on Monday. The government alleges that the company monopolized the personal social networking market with its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. The trial could result in the social media giant divesting the two companies. Meta has filed a pretrial brief detailing its disagreement with the FTC and reiterating that it believes the company does not have a monopoly. ... Read full article.