Meta, formerly known as Facebook, considered the idea of paying users for the data it collected to enhance its advertising platform. The company disclosed that it had internally discussed compensating users of its apps, including WhatsApp and Instagram, but ultimately decided against it. This information came to light in a lawsuit where Meta is accused of engaging in anticompetitive practices to maintain its dominance in the social media advertising market.
Unsealed documents from the case revealed that Meta executives, such as CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Javier Olivan, and chief information security officer Guy Rosen, went to great lengths to gather data on competitors and replicate their features. The lawsuit, initiated by a group of advertisers in 2020, alleges that Meta's actions led to a monopoly in social media ads, resulting in inflated prices.
