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Takeaways
- Meta is looking for the Trump administration's assistance in handling regulatory threats in the European Union,The Wall Street Journal reported.
- The European Commission has said Meta's advertising policies violate its Digital Markets Act.
- A Meta spokesperson said the Commission is "seeking to handicap successful American businesses simply because they’re American."
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta Platforms) is looking for help from the Trump administration to fight against the looming European Commission fines.
The Commission said last year that Meta’s “pay-or-consent” model, which forces users to subscribe to an ad-free version of its products such as Facebook and Instagram or else their data will be used for personalized advertising, likely violated the Digital Markets Act of the European Union (DMA).
In November, Meta said it would reduce the price of the no-ads subscription in Europe, and let users opt for a free "less personalized ads" version of its products.
The New York Post reported last week, citing sources close to the situation, that the Commission is likely to rule that the changes don't go far enough, and Meta could be fined over $1 billion for still operating in violation of the DMA. Meta is looking to get the Trump administration to respond "aggressively" against the decision in hopes that it could get the penalty reduced, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the conversation.
Meta Says Commission 'Seeking to Handicap Successful American Businesses'
“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 spokesperson said in a statement to Investopedia.
A spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment on this report, but told The Journal that the laws are enforced the same way regardless of the country from which the company operates. The White House didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.
Meta has already moved closer towards the Trump administration, adding Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White as a member of the company’s board and ending its fact checking program earlier this year. In February, Trump’s administration announced that it would consider tariffs as a result of regulations and fines imposed on American tech companies.
