Overview

• Court documents expose Meta's 'Ghostbusters' project aimed at decrypting Snapchat data to outmaneuver its rival in the social media ad market.
• Meta's initiative involved 'man-in-the-middle' attacks, violating privacy and potentially breaking wiretap laws, according to lawsuits.
• Facebook's secret surveillance led to the development of competing features, such as Instagram Stories, directly impacting Snapchat's ad business.
• Internal opposition at Meta highlighted the program as a 'legal, technical, and security nightmare,' with senior executives questioning its ethics.
• Advertisers suing Meta claim the company's actions allowed it to unfairly raise ad rates, harming competition and violating antitrust laws.