Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom has testified in an antitrust trial, claiming that Instagram could have thrived independently and that its growth was viewed as a “threat” by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms. Systrom’s testimony comes as part of the U.S. government’s monopoly case, which aims to reverse Meta’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram. The case, led by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), suggests that Meta’s purchase of Instagram, now a social media giant with nearly three billion users, was part of a strategy to stifle competition. Instagram is projected to generate a substantial portion of Meta’s U.S. ad revenue this year, underlining its importance to the company’s business model.
During his testimony, Systrom highlighted Instagram’s rapid growth leading up to the acquisition, noting how the app saw a 13-fold increase in users in 2011 alone, the year before the purchase. This surge in popularity, he suggested, indicated Instagram’s potential to succeed on its own. Despite this, Zuckerberg’s approach to Instagram after the acquisition took a more adversarial turn, with Systrom claiming that Meta’s CEO saw Instagram as a competitive threat. Systrom testified that Instagram was starved of resources once it was acquired, and despite the app’s potential, it struggled to get the support it needed from Meta, particularly when it came to hiring additional staff for key initiatives.
Systrom expressed confidence that Instagram could have continued to evolve without the acquisition, including adding crucial features like video support and private messaging. He argued that the company had the necessary infrastructure to support its growth, particularly pointing out that Instagram relied on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its operational needs. Even when it came to tackling spam and harmful content, Systrom believed that Instagram could have handled these challenges independently, suggesting that scaling the platform’s content moderation efforts was not an insurmountable challenge.
However, when cross-examined by Meta’s lawyers, Systrom admitted that the company’s success was never guaranteed. “It could have gone either way,” he said, acknowledging the inherent risks in the startup world. Despite this, Systrom remained firm in his belief that Instagram had a solid foundation to continue growing. After the acquisition, Systrom described a fluctuating relationship with Zuckerberg, who oscillated between supporting and viewing Instagram as a threat. Systrom also mentioned that after the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, Instagram faced a lack of new resources, with no additional employees allocated to crucial areas like video development or data privacy efforts. This resource deprivation, Systrom suggested, played a key role in hindering Instagram’s full potential post-acquisition.