FTC Hearing: Zuckerberg’s Old Email Exposes Instagram Spinoff Plans

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg once weighed spinning Instagram out from Facebook back in 2018, according to an email shown at the ongoing FTC antitrust trial. At the time, he reportedly saw mounting public calls to break up big tech as a non-trivial risk. In a message presented in court, Zuckerberg pondered if offloading Instagram proactively might shield the company from looming regulatory threats aimed at unwinding major acquisitions.

Instagram originally joined Facebook’s lineup in 2012 for $1 billion—an acquisition the U.S. Federal Trade Commission now points to in its case accusing Meta of monopolizing social networking. With the FTC seeking remedies that could split off Instagram or WhatsApp, Zuckerberg’s 2018 email is a key exhibit. He allegedly believed that if forced spinoffs ever became reality, unifying Instagram’s growth with Facebook might do more harm than good in regulators’ eyes.

The case underscores a central question: Did Meta’s past purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp unfairly limit competition, or did it enable both platforms to scale? Meta insists it’s faced an onslaught of competitors—from TikTok to Apple iMessage—and that the FTC’s view of the marketplace is flawed. As the trial continues, these behind-the-scenes communications might illuminate just how Meta’s leadership braced for—and tried to navigate—rising antitrust scrutiny long before the current showdown.