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<\/div>As times change, so do mission statements, especially in the fast-and-loose world of tech. In recent months, we've seen Google walk back its pledge to \"do no evil<\/a>,\" and OpenAI quietly delete a policy prohibiting its software's use for \"military technology<\/a>.\"<\/p> Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is no exception. Its 2008 motto<\/a>, \"Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life,\" is now a distant memory — according to Zuckerberg himself, who testified this week that Facebook's main purpose \"wasn't really to connect with friends anymore.\"<\/p> \"The friend part has gone down quite a bit,\" Zuckerberg said, according to Business Insider<\/em><\/a>.<\/p> Instead, he says that the platform has evolved away from that model — its original claim to fame, as old heads will recall — in its over 20 years of life, becoming \"more of a broad discovery and entertainment space,\" which is apparently exec-speak for \"endless feed of AI slop<\/a>.\"<\/p> The tech bigwig was speaking as a witness at a federal antitrust case launched by the Federal Trade Commission against Meta, the now-parent company to WhatsApp, Instagram, Threads, and Oculus.<\/p> The FTC's case hinges on a series of messages sent by Zuckerberg and his executives regarding a strategy of buying other social media platforms outright, rather than compete with them in the free and open market — a scheme that's more the rule than the exception for Silicon Valley whales<\/a> like Google<\/a>, Amazon<\/a>, and Microsoft<\/a>.<\/p> The FTC alleges that Meta began its monopolistic streak as early as 2008, when Zuckerberg buzzed that \"it's better to buy than compete\" in a series of emails about then-rival platform Instagram. He finally got its hands on Instagram in 2012<\/a>, after sending a memo that Facebook — which changed its name to Meta in 2021 — <\/strong>\"had\" to buy the photo-sharing app for $1 billion, fearing competition and a bidding war with fast-growing platforms<\/a> like Twitter.<\/p> \"The businesses are nascent but the networks are established,\" Zuckerberg wrote in a leaked email<\/a> about startup platforms Instagram and Path. \"The brands are already meaningful and if they grow to a large scale they could be very disruptive to us.\"<\/p> \"It’s an email written by someone who recognized Instagram as a threat and was forced to sacrifice a billion dollars because Meta could not meet that threat through competition,” said the FTC’s lead counselor<\/a>, Daniel Matheson.<\/p> Those internal memos are now smoking guns in what could be the biggest antitrust case since the infamous AT&T breakup of 1982<\/a>, which had many similarities to the FTC's suit against Meta. Back then, AT&T held unrivaled market influence<\/a> that it used to box out smaller fish and shape laws<\/a> to its whims — to chase profit above all, in other words.<\/p> Meta, in parallel, has spent millions lobbying lawmakers<\/a>, is the dominant player in online advertising<\/a>, and currently wields a market cap<\/a> of $1.34 trillion — higher than the value of all publicly traded companies in South Korea<\/a>, for perspective.<\/p> The FTC's challenge will depend on whether federal prosecutors can convince US District Judge James Boasberg that Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were illegal by notoriously weak<\/a> US antitrust standards. They'll have no help from Boasberg, an Obama appointee, who has voiced skepticism with cases against Meta in the past.<\/p> \"The [FTC] faces hard questions about whether its claims can hold up in the crucible of trial,\" Boasberg said<\/a> in late 2024, adding that \"its positions at times strain this country’s creaking antitrust precedents to their limits.\"<\/p> Whatever happens, it's clear that Zuckerberg has moved on from the idealism of the early internet — to the sloppified money-grubbing<\/a> of whatever it is we have now.<\/p> More on Meta: <\/strong>Facebook Is Desperately Trying to Keep You From Learning What's in This Book<\/em><\/a><\/p> The post Zuckerberg Tells Court That Facebook Is No Longer About Connecting With Friends<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Go here to see the original: As times change, so do mission statements, especially in the fast-and-loose world of tech. In recent months, we've seen Google walk back its pledge to \" do no evil ,\" and OpenAI quietly delete a policy prohibiting its software's use for \" military technology .\" Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is no exception. Its 2008 motto , \"Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life,\" is now a distant memory \u2014 according to Zuckerberg himself, who testified this week that Facebook's main purpose \"wasn't really to connect with friends anymore.\" \"The friend part has gone down quite a bit,\" Zuckerberg said, according to\u00a0 Business Insider Continue reading
Zuckerberg Tells Court That Facebook Is No Longer About Connecting With Friends<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"