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Meta antitrust trial kicks off in federal court

(www.axios.com)
431 points c420 | 2 comments | 14 Apr 25 13:18 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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paxys ◴[14 Apr 25 19:40 UTC] No.43685386[source]▶
I don't understand the FTC's strategy here. Their entire case hinges on the fact that the judge will accept that Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and MeWe (?) are direct competitors of Facebook in the "personal social networking" space while TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and all the rest aren't. Unsurprisingly that is what Meta's legal team is spending all of its efforts debating. I really can't see the judge allowing such a cherry-picked definition of what Facebook's market is.
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hooloovoo_zoo ◴[15 Apr 25 01:06 UTC] No.43688004[source]▶
It's a good strategy because that's the obvious distinction and there's an easy litmus test (which apps do people use their real names on). Don't be ridiculous with iMessage.
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1. paxys ◴[15 Apr 25 01:12 UTC] No.43688048[source]▶
What's the "obvious distinction" and "easy litmus test" that WhatsApp directly competes with Facebook while iMessage is not in the same space? What about Instagram and TikTok?
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2. hooloovoo_zoo ◴[15 Apr 25 01:29 UTC] No.43688127[source]▶
iMessage is not a business; it's just a messaging feature. There are no ads or 3rd party content or anything. The easy litmus test is the one I just gave; users generally don't use their real names on tiktok.