Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company executives reportedly asked Trump administration officials to help fight an expected European Union fine and cease-and-desist order.
Meta was accused of breaching the EU’s Digital Markets Act, and a committee of EU member-state representatives on Friday approved the European Commission’s plan to order Meta and Apple to comply with the bloc’s tech law, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The EU’s expected penalty could affect whether Facebook and Instagram allow users to access those platforms without seeing personalized ads, which generates much of Meta’s revenue, the Journal said.
“This is not just about fines — it’s about the Commission seeking to handicap successful American businesses simply because they’re American, while letting Chinese and European rivals off the hook,” a Meta spokesman said.
The Digital Markets Act, which sets a list of dos and don’ts for Big Tech companies, supposedly aims at securing a level playing field and giving consumers more choices.
In February, U.S. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan demanded EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera clarify how she enforces the European Union’s rules reining in Big Tech, saying they appear to target U.S. companies.
The request came two days after President Donald Trump signed a memorandum warning that his administration would scrutinize the EU’s Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act “that dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union.”
Zuckerberg has taken steps to repair his relationship with Trump, who was suspended from Meta platforms after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. The suspension was lifted two years later.
In recent months, Meta’s founder and CEO ended Meta’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, ended a third-party fact-checking program, and appointed UFC President Dana White to Meta’s board.
Zuckerberg attended Trump’s inauguration and donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. Zuckerberg also dined with the then-president elect at Mar-a-Lago in late November.
After the inauguration, Zuckerberg said he wanted to work with Trump to push back on global regulations, including in Europe, where he said laws are “institutionalizing censorship and making it difficult to build anything innovative,” the Journal reported.
The EU also will be affected by Trump’s tariffs, set to begin Wednesday.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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