Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms (hereinafter Meta), is trying to reap the rewards of having supported U.S. President Donald Trump.
On the 31st (local time), the U.S. daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Meta officials requested trade officials from the Trump administration to oppose the anticipated regulatory moves by the European Union (EU) Commission.
The EU Commission is expected to issue fines and compliance orders to Meta, deciding that "consumers should have the option not to see personalized ads on Facebook or Instagram, even for free users." Since nearly a quarter of Meta's revenue comes from Europe, Meta's advertising business is expected to face significant disruption.
Meta argues that such regulatory moves under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) constitute discrimination and that if such decisions are made, it would have to provide its core products for free without a business model. Meta has asked the second Trump administration to block this.
In response, the EU Commission's press office explained that EU laws are applied equally to all companies operating within the EU, regardless of where the company's headquarters are registered.
CEO Zuckerberg has been working to improve relations with the Trump side for several years, including recruiting Republican figures as executives, and even called President Trump to wish him a speedy recovery shortly after the assassination attempt in July last year.
After President Trump's election, Meta abolished its diversity team to suit the Trump administration, eliminated the fact-checking program, and brought Dana White, UFC president known as a Trump supporter, onto Meta's board of directors.
After the inauguration of Trump's second term, CEO Zuckerberg said about the EU, "(Regulatory laws) institutionalize censorship and make it difficult to create innovative things," and pledged to work with President Trump to eliminate global regulations.
In February, he met with U.S. government officials in Washington and urged them to address foreign government regulations that undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies in foreign markets.
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