Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and other Meta executives believe Tiktok beat Meta in his own game. This is based on a new filing in the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant published on Monday.

The document, dated in February 2022, includes conversations between many meta-directors discussing Facebook and Instagram’s strategy and market position. In a message, Zuckerberg called Facebook a "challenger" and it "lost its mind and motivation", while adding that Tiktok created a "feel of sharing background" that friends saw the same memes.

Mosseri also agreed that Facebook should now be viewed as a challenger, noting that it is no longer the default discovery engine. He suggested that the preferred discovery engine today might be YouTube, but he hopes Tiktok will surpass Google's video platform in time because the data Meta has data on hand.

"The most natural differentiation... Facebook's strategy is to be the default discovery surface. But it's interesting that (Tiktok) is 100% video and beat us." "My guess is that they are developing the social mobile market and eating in TV, long-term video, Netflix."

Moselli is right. One study found that Tiktok exceeded the average viewing time on YouTube. Another study by Qustodio, a maker of parent control software, found that children aged 4 to 18 spend 60% of their time on Tiktok, which is 60% more than YouTube in 2023. Last year, Tiktok began allowing 60 minutes of uploads to challenge YouTube.

Just this week, Netflix introduced its own Tiktok-like experience in its mobile app and provided a new vertical video feed for recommended videos that are personalized.

However, at the trial, the U.S. government tried to prove that Meta violated competition law by acquiring companies such as Instagram and WhatsApp to create a social network monopoly. Given the internal meta executives are discussing how bad Tiktok beats Facebook, it could harm such cases.

For example, Zuckerberg noted that even though Facebook is still the largest app for the number of people interacting with it every day or week, the time spent by time is no longer the largest app.

He also noted that Tiktok has a way to provide people with a sense of common background. That said, if you and your friends are interested in the same thing, you may encounter the same thing in Tiktok's feed.

"This makes it social in nature because it doesn't have to send something to friends, you can assume they've seen it," the CEO explained. "It would be great if we could get to this level with themes and connectionless content on FB."

Other executives are in trouble.

Whatsapp head Cathcart pointed out that Tiktok users can comment on videos in a specific niche, which will cause the algorithm to bring them and other commenters to the same video over time.

Stan Chudnovsky, who was then at Meta and GM, added that Meta has now begun competing in a space that has become very fragmented, "a bunch of companies are eating and eating in our growth."

"Just adding a new format (like we do with stories) isn't enough. There are a lot of other places that can be people," he added, citing other popular social apps in the United States, such as Tiktok, Twitter, Twitter, Imessage, Imessage, Snap, YouTube, YouTube, Reddit and Discord.

John Hegeman, then vice president of advertising (now chief revenue officer), agreed that Tiktok was "apparently leading" in areas such as short form video content, ranking capabilities and creation tools, but said he thought Meta could close the gap by making the creator's class post on Reels.

But, he said, he is not sure how far behind the meta when it comes to machine learning and technology and creating tools. The document depicts an image in which Facebook is the weaker in the social media market in Meta’s view.

This is also not the only document encountered during the trial that proves Meta is afraid of competition. Zuckerberg himself testified last month that Tiktok's success is both a risk to the business of the Meta, and slows its growth.