Meta has been dealing with an antitrust lawsuit for years now, and even though the Federal Court Judge dismissed the case in June 2021, the FTC filed a more loop-free complaint in 2022. The lawsuit regarding Facebook's anti-competitive practices has been ongoing since then, and Meta has provided more details about the fiasco. The company provided an opening statement with slides, and one of them showcased various services such as Instagram and Facebook Messenger and how they compare against Apple's iMessage platform in terms of popularity.
Meta denies monopoly allegations, says iMessage is more popular than Instagram and Facebook Messenger
According to the information shared in the slides, iMessage's popularity is far above that of Instagram or Facebook Messenger. The slides were later made available to the public, but with some poorly executed alterations, making them easy to recover (via The Verge). The slides contained the following percentages for Meta, Snapchat, and Apple apps.
- Apple Messages: 88.39 percent
- Instagram: 48.19 percent
- Facebook Messenger: 37.55 percent
- WhatsApp: 36.76 percent
- Snapchat: 23.04 percent
You can also see in the image above that an internal Apple document appears to be opened on the side of the percentages shared for different apps, and AppleInsider was told that the documentation is authentic. The only information that was not manipulated was a quote from Apple's Director of Product Marketing that reads:
A "core use case" of iMessage is "to allow users to communicate with the people that are in their life that they know."
Meta's claims revolve around Apple's iMessage popularity, suggesting that it can not be considered a monopoly as far as Instagram and Facebook Messenger are concerned. The company also brought YouTube and TikTok into the argument, claiming that the rival services are "thriving." While the arguments posed by the social media tech giant are valid to a certain level, we also have to consider that Instagram is not just a means of communication but a media-sharing platform with communities, groups, and much more. Henceforth, a company can not simply base an argument revolving around a single point but has to take the entire nature of the service into consideration.
It remains to be seen what the judges decide and where the arguments lead next. Since the case has been going on since 2020, it could take months or even years before the final decision is announced. We will share more details on the subject, so be sure to stick around for more details.
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