A newly revealed document shows Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg contemplated spinning off Instagram in 2018 due to growing antitrust concerns, according to evidence presented at the ongoing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial.

“I wonder if we should consider the extreme step of spinning Instagram out as a separate company,” Zuckerberg wrote in the memo displayed during his second day of testimony on Tuesday. The document emerged as the FTC pursues its case to unwind Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

According to Reuters, at the time of the memo, Meta was considering plans to integrate its family of apps more closely. Zuckerberg acknowledged in the document that while consolidation would likely yield “strong business growth,” it risked eroding Facebook’s core value with “scant promise” that the company would ultimately keep all its apps.

“As calls to break up the big tech companies grow, there is a non-trivial chance that we will be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years anyway,” he wrote, noting the possibility that a “next Democratic president” might take action against tech companies.

Market Definition Central to Legal Battle

The core disagreement in the trial centers on how to define Meta’s competitive market. The FTC contends Meta maintains a monopoly in the “personal social networking market,” where its main competitors are Snapchat and MeWe.

Meta argues this definition is artificially narrow, excluding major competitors like TikTok, YouTube, and X. “The vast majority of the experience is more around exploring your interests, entertainment, things like that,” Zuckerberg testified.

Acquisition Motives Under Scrutiny

FTC attorney Daniel Matheson presented internal correspondence showing Zuckerberg’s concern about Instagram’s growth when Facebook struggled to adjust to mobile apps. When questioned about buying Instagram, Zuckerberg acknowledged, “We were doing a build vs. buy analysis. I thought that Instagram was better at that, so I thought it was better to buy them.”

Matheson cited messages where Zuckerberg recognized that by acquiring platforms, “what we’re really buying is time” before competitors reach a similar scale.

High Stakes for Meta’s Business Model

If Judge James E. Boasberg sides with the FTC, Meta could be forced to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, which have become crucial to the company’s business. Instagram is expected to represent more than half of Meta’s U.S. revenue this year, according to EMARKETER.

The trial includes testimony from high-profile current and former Meta executives, including former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, alongside representatives from competing platforms.