Meta User Slowdown Bolsters Blame-It-on-TikTok Antitrust Defense
- Facebook parent says rival app weighed on its results
- FTC’s monopoly case against Meta frames the market narrowly
Facebook’s average monthly users in the fourth quarter was flat compared with the prior period.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Meta Platforms Inc.’s dismal earnings report had one potential silver lining for Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg: the more challenging competitive landscape adds ammunition to fight a pending government lawsuit against the social media giant.
Since Meta’s revenue forecast miss and user-growth flop Wednesday, Zuckerberg has repeatedly cited competition from video-sharing app TikTok as a threat. That claim goes to the heart of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta. Is the company a monopoly with no true competition, as the FTC alleges, or is it battling for users’ attention against legions of rival apps?