Meta’s antitrust trial, in which the government contends the company killed competition by buying young rivals, hinges on unknowable alternate versions of Silicon Valley history.

According to a January 2013 message to Meta's board, Zuckerberg expressed concern that WhatsApp could develop its own social network, like WeChat had in China, and become a major competitor for Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg floated the possibility of spinning off Instagram from his social media empire amid rising regulatory scrutiny of the technology sector and an increasing concern that the photo sharing app was “cannibalizing” the success of Facebook.