- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company has “tailored the characteristics” of competitors during Wednesday’s large tech antitrust hearing.
- Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, asked Zuckerberg if Facebook had copied features of its rivals as part of its competitive strategy.
- Jayapal pressured Zuckerberg in the conversations that occurred during Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, asking him if the company threatened to copy Instagram’s features while trying to buy it.
- The exchange was part of an unprecedented antitrust hearing in which CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google testified before Congress.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company “adapted the features” of competitors when faced with whether the social media giant used unfair practices, including copying the features of rivals, to stay ahead of the competitors.
The exchange was part of an unprecedented antitrust hearing on Wednesday, in which CEOs of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon testified before Congress as part of an investigation into whether these companies are engaging in anti-competitive business practices.
Zuckerberg said Facebook “certainly adapted features” of others in response to a question from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, about whether the company had copied features from its competitors. During his interrogation, Jayapal cited emails among Facebook executives seeking “aggressive and agile” tactics to maintain an advantage over competing services.
He also pressured Zuckerberg on whether the company ever threatened to clone products from other companies while trying to acquire them.
Specifically, he lobbied the Facebook CEO over whether the social media giant had used a camera product the company was developing at the time to threaten Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom before his acquisition of the $ 1 photo-sharing app. billion in 2012.
Jayapal referenced a chat in which Zuckerberg told Systrom that Facebook was “developing our own photographic strategy, so how we engage now will also determine how much we are partners versus competitors in the future.”
Systrom told an investor at the time that he was concerned that Zuckerberg would go into “destruction mode” if he didn’t sell Instagram to Facebook, Jayapal said.
In his response, Zuckerberg disagreed with the characterization that the company had threatened or copied competitors. “It was clear that this was a space where we were going to compete in one way or another,” said Zuckerberg. “I don’t see those conversations as a threat in any way.”
Acquiring Instagram from Instagram and other popular apps like WhatsApp has been a point of interest for regulators throughout the audience. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, also referenced emails saying Facebook acquired Instagram to neutralize a competitor by questioning Zuckerberg earlier in the day.
Zuckerberg’s questions and answer come after the tech giant has been accused of copying features from rivals like Snapchat. The company has introduced several features in its app that are similar to Snapchat’s, such as Instagram’s “Stories” feature, which is very similar to Snapchat’s “Story” post format. Both features allow you to post a collection of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours.
Jayapal also referenced Snapchat, and asked Zuckerberg if Facebook had warned Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel that the company was planning to clone its features while trying to acquire the company. Zuckerberg rejected that claim, reiterating the company’s goal.
“People want to be able to communicate privately, they want to be able to communicate with all of their friends at once,” said Zuckerberg. “And we will make sure we build the best products in every space we can to help people stay connected to the people who matter to them.”
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