Zuckerberg stresses TikTok competition at Meta trial (2025)

Zuckerberg said Wednesday he considers TikTok the “highest competitive threat” that Facebook and Instagram have faced in the past few years.

Meta’s lead attorney, Mark Hansen, pointed to a 2020 email from former Facebook executive Vijaye Raji, who described TikTok’s growth as “worrying” and lamented the company’s strategy was “unfortunately not working fast enough.”

“While Reels V2 is aggressive and promising, we still have some concerns if it is sufficient to neutralize the threat,” Raji wrote of an early version of Meta’s short-form video format meant to compete with TikTok.

“TikTok in the US is a much bigger threat to our entire family of apps. And we need to put up a stronger assault,” he continued.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initially sued Meta in 2020, accusing the social media giant of seeking to eliminate competition and entrench its monopoly over personal social networking with its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Meta has argued that it does not have a monopoly, pointing to competition from other social media firms, such as TikTok, YouTube and X.

It contends that the FTC’s personal social networking market, which includes Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, fails to take into account other competitors because of its focus on platforms that connect friends and family.

Zuckerberg spent three days on the stand, including facing about nine hours of questioning by the FTC on Monday and Tuesday. He faced questions from Meta’s attorney Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday offered support for Congress’ recent push to pass legislation creating a framework for payment stablecoins.

“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into sort of more mainstreaming of that whole sector,” he said during remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago.

He noted that both the House and Senate are working on stablecoin legislation, with the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services panel advancing separate bills in March and April.

“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” Powell added, referring to a legal framework.

“Stablecoins are a digital product that could have fairly wide appeal and should contain consumer protections of the typical sorts and transparecy,” he continued.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are tied to another asset, such as a fiat currency, to ensure greater price stability.

Powell acknowledged that the Fed and other regulators previously took a “pretty conservative” approach to guidance and rules for banks on crypto but suggested there will be “some loosening of that.”

“I think we’ll try to do it in a way that preserves safety and soundness but that permits and fosters appropriate innovation,” the Fed chair said Wednesday.