Lauren Feiner

The FTC brought up a declaration from TikTok in its own case against the US government over the law that seeks to ban the app unless it’s sold from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. The government used the declaration to show how TikTok described itself as offering a distinct service from other social platforms available in the US. It’s a reminder of the deeply strange context behind this case and Presser’s appearance today in the same courthouse where the TikTok ban law was litigated (and upheld).

Looking at a screenshot of the same video experience on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts that Meta has shown throughout trial to show the similarity between the products, Presser says the snapshot doesn’t tell the whole story. “When you click out of this view for these other platforms, you would get to essentially what I think of as their core business,” Presser says, which for Instagram, is its feed of content and stories. Plus, he says, “as you swipe on any of these platforms, the mix of content that you would get might feel different” because of the different recommendation algorithms.

Presser says the video app doesn’t offer this kind of service, reinforcing the FTC’s view that TikTok operates in a market distinct from the one it claims Meta monopolizes — which focuses on connecting users with friends and family, rather that surfacing content based on users’ interests. Presser’s testimony is significant for the FTC, in part because ByteDance’s submission to European regulators in 2020 uses the term “personal social networking” to define Facebook and Instagram, which Meta has tried to paint as a made-up label.

It’s now TikTok’s turn to explain why it does (or doesn’t) compete with Facebook and Instagram for a social network connecting friends and family. Adam Presser, who leads operations and trust and safety, is walking through a submission by TikTok’s owner ByteDance to the European Commission, where it distinguishes between social networking services like Meta’s apps and “online content creation and sharing services,” which are focused around sharing and consuming content based on interests.

Meta is trying to draw an analogy between Yahoo’s $1 billion acquisition of Tumblr in 2013 with Meta’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram for the same price. Tumblr wasn’t making a profit when it was acquired but had a large user base. A big difference, of course, is the trajectory of each startup. When Meta’s attorney asks if Tumblr’s subsequent sale to Automattic was “significantly less” than $10 million, Tucker says, “I saw a joke that it was near the price of a modest home in Silicon Valley.”

Eli Tucker is walking the court through the blogging platform, including its app store listing that describes it with the words, “Fandom, Art, Chaos.” Just like the FTC did with Pinterest, Strava, and Reddit, the government is trying to show Judge Boasberg that the way these other platforms are designed and used are more about connecting over interests than with friends — and therefore outside of the market Meta allegedly monopolizes.

Meta is pointing out on cross-examination that Apple has chosen to list its own messaging app in this category on the App Store, suggesting there may be more overlap with Meta’s services than the FTC would argue.

Shah testifies that would probably be “distracting” for users who just want to focus on their conversations with friends.

In a screenshot of an example group chat, “Momma Chloe” asks this — presumably because she doesn’t have most of the messengers’ numbers. The FTC is making the point that iMessage users don’t have profiles that automatically populate if a user doesn’t already have someone else’s info — making it different from the social apps Meta runs. It’s a bit of a painstaking line of questioning for anyone who already uses iMessage regularly, but it’s driving home the point but the app is distinct from a personal social networking app.

Ronak Shah, director of product management who oversees services like iMessage and Safari as well as user privacy and security, is now testifying remotely. We’ll likely hear more about the messaging space that WhatsApp competes in.