Zuckerberg is said to have feared Instagram before the 2012 acquisition – E24

“I remember your internal post about how Instagram was our threat and not Google+. You were basically right. So there’s one thing with startups, you can often buy them.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is said to have written this in a message to one of his colleagues shortly after the company bought the $ 1 billion photo-sharing service Instagram in 2012.

The report has now become part of the lawsuit against the company, where the US Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 states claim that Facebook violated competition law in connection with acquisitions of the photo-sharing service and WhatsApp.

The 53-page lawsuit, which was filed in District Court of Columbia earlier this week, contains a series of internal messages from both the top executive and other directors of the company.

Must have feared the competition

Several of them indicate that Zuckerberg saw Instagram as a significant competitor, and that is why the acquisition was ultimately completed.

“In the time it has taken us to attack this, Instagram has become an important and viable competitor for us in mobile photos, which will largely be the future of photos,” Zuckerberg wrote in 2011, according to documents mentioned by first time. by SvD.

The FTC then believes that Facebook has resorted to the philosophy that shopping is better than competing.

In 2012, Zuckerberg is said to have recognized that if Instagram went independent or was acquired by Google or Apple, Instagram would leave Facebook far behind in terms of functionality and branding around how one of the “most important uses of Facebook would play out in the world mobile”.

After emphasizing that this was “very scary” for the company, the Facebook boss is said to have suggested that he “might consider paying big bucks” for the photo-sharing service.

– Does not mention that they approved the purchases

Facebook has previously commented on the extensive lawsuit. The company believes the FTC and the states with the lawsuit are “acting scary.”

“Instagram and WhatsApp became the amazing products they are today because Facebook invested billions of dollars and many years of innovation and experience to develop new features and better experiences for the millions who love these products,” wrote the vice president. of Facebook, Jennifer Newstead, in an email. mail to E24 earlier this week.

If the plaintiffs win, Facebook may have to sell the two apps, Instagram and WhatsApp.

– The most important fact in this case, which the commission does not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it (competition authorities, editor’s note) approved these acquisitions many years ago. The government now wants a rematch and sends a deterrent warning to American businesses that no sale is final, Newstead writes.