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Technology |
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Zuckerberg stresses TikTok competition at Meta trial |
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent his third day on the stand emphasizing the threat TikTok poses to his social media company, as Meta seeks to fend off accusations from federal regulators that it has a monopoly over social networking. |
© Kent Nishimura, Bloomberg via Getty Images |
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. |
Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, we're Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. |
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: |
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Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, is calling for an investigation into the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) access to data at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Labor (DOL). In a letter addressed to Luiz Santos, the acting inspector general for DOL, and Ruth Blevins, the NLRB inspector general, Connolly argued that DOGE … |
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Nvidia revealed Tuesday the Trump administration’s tighter export controls on computer chips will cost the company $5.5 billion. In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nvidia said it will take a $5.5 billion charge for the exporting of its H20 graphics processing units to China. Exports of a similar bandwidth are also subject to the same licensing requirements, according to the filing. … |
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President Trump and five members of his administration — Vice President Vance, senior adviser Elon Musk, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought — have been named to Time magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People of 2025.” The six officials are the largest representation bloc from a presidential … |
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The entire staff of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon's decade-old technology development office, is leaving by the start of May, with nearly all individuals resigning, a current member of the office confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. The mass exodus, first reported by Politico, means the service will effectively shutter in less than a month. Of the 14 members of the office, a dozen, including Director Jennifer … |
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: |
- Meta offered to pay $1 billion to settle FTC case before trial (The Wall Street Journal)
- Nearly 50 Democrats call on Trump admin to stop using unauthorized AI in DOGE efforts (Reuters)
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Powell backs push for stablecoin framework |
Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington. |
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. |
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill: |
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Spotify down for thousands of users |
Music streaming service Spotify was down for thousands of users Wednesday morning. As of 9:40 a.m. EDT, more than 48,600 users reported issues with the Spotify app and website, according to outage tracking site Downdetector.com. “We’re aware of some issues right now and are checking them out,” Spotify wrote on the social platform X. X was filled with hundreds of posts from users expressing frustrations with … |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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The mother of a Maryland woman who was killed by an individual who entered the country illegally addressed reporters at the White House on Wednesday … Read more |
| A federal judge found probable cause Wednesday to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order to immediately … Read more |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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