Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s former CEO, testified in Meta’s antitrust trial that Mark Zuckerberg viewed Instagram as a “threat” to Facebook’s growth after its acquisition in 2012 for $1 billion. Systrom noted that Zuckerberg slowed down hiring and investment in Instagram despite its success, which contributed to tensions that led to his resignation in 2018. This testimony is pivotal in the FTC’s case against Meta, arguing the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were anticompetitive, with implications that Zuckerberg acknowledged the possibility of being forced to divest these services.