By Jody Godoy WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Facebook parent Meta Platforms bought up nascent rivals Instagram and WhatsApp after its attempts to compete had failed, an attorney for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said at the beginning of a high-stakes trial in Washington on Monday,

WASHINGTON—Facebook parent Meta Platforms faces a high-stakes trial in Washington starting on Monday on claims it built an illegal social media monopoly by spending billions of dollars to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp, in a case where U.S. antitrust enforcers seek to unwind the deals.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on Monday in a historic antitrust trial that could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups it bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.