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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg once sailed the idea of deleting users’ friends on Facebook To increase the relevance of the platform. The email was discovered as part of FTC’s remarkable case for the antitrust case against Meta. FTC seeks to unleash META’s acquisitions by Instagram and WhatsApp, but the company maintains that it does not have a monopoly power in a highly competitive and fast -growing digital market.
META CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the position of witnesses on Monday against the backdrop of a remarkable process of antitrust processes against the company.
Different emails from past Zuckerberg communication were introduced as evidence, including one of 2022, when Meta boss offered a “crazy” strategy to strengthen the reduction in Facebook’s cultural relevance: Deleting the networks of all users.
“Option 1. Double friendship,” Zuckerberg wrote in a 2022 message to the senior Meta leaders. “One of the potentially crazy idea is to consider wiping everyone’s graphics and making them start again.”
The message suggested in response to growing concerns about Facebook’s weakening relevance suggested that the company could revive users’ commitment by removing existing connections with friends and encouraging users to reset their networks from scratch.
The proposal was met with skepticism by some of the company. Tom Alison, Facebook leader at the time, warned that such a move could undermine the critical functionality of the platform, especially on Instagram.
He replied to Meta Boss, wrote: “I am not sure # 1 in your proposal (twice further) will be viable, given my understanding of how vital the case is to use a friend of Ig.”
Zuckerberg pressed the idea further, but asking whether the transition from a model based on a friend to a model based on followers can be feasible.
Although the proposal has never been implemented, as Zuckerberg noted in court on Monday, the email reveals how concerned he was with a competitiveness in the rapidly developing digital landscape.
Meta’s antitrust test
A separate internal email, written by Meta CEO in 2008, is at the heart of the current FTC antitrust case against the platform. In it he writes: “It is better to buy than to compete.”
The test, which began on Monday, is the result of a year over the Meta acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC case claims that the company has bought competitive platforms to competition to reduce and establish an illegal monopoly on the social media market. If META loses the case, it may be forced to interrupt Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta insists that a competitive landscape has shifted dramatically and that it is now struggling with many great rivals, including Tiktok, YouTube, Imessage and more.
“The evidence in the process will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp compete with Chinese property Tiktok, YouTube, X, Imessage and many more. More than 10 years after the FTC is reviewing and clearing our acquisitions and additional actions on the committee.
Experts say the FTC will face a difficult battle in proving its case, pointing to a recent court institution, in which Meta stressed that FTC should demonstrate that the company holds a monopoly power in the present market – not based on conditions of years. This requirement can be an obstacle for regulators, as a competitive landscape has evolved significantly, as Meta acquires WhatsApp and Instagram with new powerful rivals such as Tiktok that is dialing.
The risks of meta are still significant, as forced release from Instagram can reduce advertising revenue by as much as 50%.
Meta representatives did not immediately respond to a request for a comment from Fortune, made out of normal working hours.
This story was originally presented on Fortune.com