Meta has been accused by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of buying its way into the virtual reality (VR) industry

Tuesday’s hearing focused on Meta’s acquisition of Within, a VR company that makes a fitness app called Supernatural.

Meta shares closed Tuesday’s session at $117.09, up 2.28 percent from the day’s opening price. The gains extended into the after-hours trading session with about 0.74 percent. Under Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership, Meta has been accused by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of buying its way into the virtual reality (VR) industry.

Over the past decade, Meta – formerly Facebook – has developed its ecosystem to shape the future of technology. In addition, Meta has made several billion-dollar acquisitions, which ostensibly made the FTC think the social media giant is killing its competitors.

“Instead of fighting on the bottom, Meta tries to buy its way to the top” said FTC Bureau of Competition Deputy Director John Newman in a statement on the lawsuit. “Meta already has a best-selling virtual reality fitness app, and it had the capabilities to compete even more closely with Within’s popular Supernatural app. But Meta chose to buy the market position instead of winning it on the merits.“

Mark Zuckerberg testifies that fitness in VR isn’t even his top VR app “use-case” priority. He reiterates social, gaming and productivity are priorities, and he says his email about the Peloton partnership was spurred b/c the VR biz was doing better in 2021 than forecasted.

– Dorothy Atkins (@doratki) December 20, 2022

Tuesday’s hearing focused on Meta’s acquisition of Within, a VR company that makes a fitness app dubbed Supernatural. During the hearing, Zuckerberg said Meta is focused on virtual reality (VR) fitness apps in 2021 because of its excess capital. However, the company’s position has since changed as revenues have dropped in 2022.

In addition, Apple’s implementation of privacy protection has significantly reduced revenues for most social media platforms that rely heavily on online ads.

Meta’s actions and market outlook

According to MarketWatch’s market data, Meta stocks lost about 65% in 2022, retesting the 2016 lows. Although most FAANG stocks have performed poorly in 2022, market strategists are positive about their profitability in the coming years. In addition, the global economy is heavily reliant on emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain development.

As such, Meta remains under regulatory scrutiny due to its competitive prospects and ability to kill other smaller companies. According to MarketWatch’s aggregated data, Meta has a market capitalization of approximately $303.55 billion and 2.25 billion shares outstanding.

Meta has come under significant criticism for its market dominance in both domestic and international markets. During Tuesday’s hearing, lawyers for the Federal Trade Commission tried to show that Meta had planned to compete with apps like Within, arguing that executives had identified fitness as a way to expand VR use beyond its existing base of young male gamers.

As the FTC continues to pressure Meta to end its acquisition of Within, the commission also wants to unwind two previous acquisitions, Instagram and WhatsApp, in a 2020 lawsuit.