Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pressing U.S. trade officials and the Trump administration to push back against an expected EU antitrust ruling that could undermine the company’s ad-based business model.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in a bid to protect Meta’s lucrative advertising business, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is calling on the Trump administration to intervene against an impending EU decision that could force significant changes to the company’s operations in the region. The expected EU ruling relates to whether Meta should be required to give Facebook and Instagram users the option to access these services for free without seeing personalized ads, a move that would strike at the heart of Meta’s primary revenue stream.
According to people familiar with the conversations, Meta executives have been urging U.S. trade officials to take a strong stance against what the company perceives as a discriminatory decision by the EU. Meta hopes that pressure from the U.S. government will persuade the European Commission to soften its demands on how the company must comply with the ruling.
Zuckerberg, who has been vocal about his frustrations with growing European regulations and taxes, sees this fight as an opportunity to leverage the administration’s support in pushing back against global regulations that he believes hinder American competitiveness overseas.
Meta argues that the EU’s actions are not just about fines but rather an attempt to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European competitors to operate freely. The European Commission, however, maintains that it enforces the bloc’s laws equally for all companies operating within the EU, regardless of their country of origin.
The pending EU decision against Meta is part of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, which aims to promote competition by helping smaller companies compete with tech giants. Last year, the EU issued preliminary charges alleging that Meta’s policy of requiring users to choose between buying a subscription or allowing the company to use their data for targeted advertising was illegal.
Although Meta introduced a “less personalized ads” option last fall in an effort to appease regulators, the company fears that the EU could demand even less personalized ads or require Meta to make this option more prominent. Such a move could significantly impact Meta’s revenue in Europe, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the company’s total revenue.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
