How Meta Competed Against Snapchat and YouTube: Unsealed Documents

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, allegedly utilized spyware developed by Onavo, a mobile data analytics company it acquired, to access user activities on rival platforms such as Snapchat, Amazon, and YouTube between 2016 and 2018. This information comes from unsealed documents from a class action suit against Meta, which accuses the company of anticompetitive behavior. The documents reveal that Meta's use of Onavo's software, codenamed "Ghostbusters," allowed them to intercept and analyze encrypted traffic, gaining insights into user behavior on rival platforms. The alleged aim was to harm competition, particularly Snapchat, in the social media landscape. Meta's dominance in the industry, evidenced by its massive audience and market capitalization, contrasts sharply with the comparatively smaller Snapchat. Meta is also under scrutiny by the European Union for potential antitrust violations and is classified as one of the digital economy's "gatekeepers."