In the USA, Meta threatened to sell Instagram and WhatsApp because of the monopoly

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Meta (its activities are recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) of monopoly and demanded to consider the possibility of restructuring the corporation or selling its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms (both belong to Meta, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). This was reported by the Reuters news agency on April 15.

Instagram Facebook's acquisitions in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 were aimed at eliminating competition from Facebook (owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), the FTC claims. The commission submitted emails in which Zuckerberg discussed buying Instagram as a way to fight a competitor.

It is specified that the hearing on the claim was held on April 14. The head of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, spoke in court and denied the charges, saying that the structure of content consumption has changed: users are more likely to exchange messages in person rather than publish posts. Facebook Instagram accounts for only 20% of the content on Facebook and 10% on Instagram are created by users' friends, he said.

Meta names TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and LinkedIn among its rivals.

The possible loss of Instagram could significantly hit the corporation's revenue. According to Emarketer's forecast, Instagram ads will bring Meta $37 billion in the United States in 2025, about half of its advertising revenue in the country.

Instagram Facebook and Instagram will be able to resume operations in Russia only after meeting the requirements of Russian legislation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 27. According to him, the potential restoration of trust in Russian-American relations will in no way affect the status of sites blocked in the Russian Federation.