Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is reportedly pleading with the Trump administration to intervene on the social media giant’s behalf as it faces a massive fine under the European Union’s strict antitrust rules.
The European Commission, the EU’s competition watchdog, is readying to slap Meta for what is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially more than $1 billion, as The Post has reported.
Meta will also receive a cease-and-desist notice detailing which practices it must change to get into compliance.
In a bid to water down the penalties — or avoid them altogether — Meta executives have pushed US trade officials under Trump to resist the European Union’s efforts, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
“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 when reached for comment on the report.
The White House and the European Commission representatives did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
The fine against Meta was expected to be announced by the end of this week – though news site Euractiv reported that EU competition chief Theresa Ribera, who is currently in the US, was delaying the announcement until she returns.
Zuckerberg had personally made the case for US pushback on European regulations in meeting with US officials in February.
The Facebook founder has been cozying up to Trump, even visiting him at Mar-a-Lago and naming a key Trump ally, UFC President Dana White, to Meta’s board of directors.
Though traditionally tough on Big Tech, Trump has been a vocal critic of the EU’s habit of imposing massive fines on American companies. The president has referred to the penalties as “overseas extortion” and threatened retaliatory measures as part of his ongoing trade dispute with the EU.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) took effect in 2023 and applies tough competition rules on Meta and six other companies deemed to be the internet’s gatekeepers – Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Booking.com, TikTok parent ByteDance and Microsoft.
Apple is also expected to be fined alongside Google as part of the DMA’s first wave of penalties against US Big Tech giants.
Multiple outlets have reported that EU officials were set to implement “modest fines” meant to promote compliance with the law without drawing Trump’s full ire.
According to the Journal, some EU officials have fretted about announcing the fines before Trump unveils his plans for reciprocal tariffs against Europe. The Trump administration has billed its announcement on Wednesday as “Liberation Day.”
The European Commission has targeted Meta for allegedly forcing customers into a restrictive “pay or consent” model for ads on Instagram and Facebook.
Officials say customers should have the ability to access Meta’s services for free without giving permission for personalized ads.
Initial charges against Meta were unveiled last year.
In a public compliance report published last month, Meta said it has “continued to receive additional demands that go beyond what is written in the law” despite efforts to adhere to the DMA’s rules.
Joel Kaplan, a well-connected Republican who serves as Meta’s top policy official, said last month that the company “won’t shy away” from seeking Trump’s assistance in response to the EU’s crackdown.
“When companies are treated differently and in a way that is discriminatory against them, then that should be highlighted to that company’s home government,” Kaplan said, according to Bloomberg.
Separately, Zuckerberg himself made the case that Trump should go to bat for US tech companies who face EU fines during a January appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
Last year, Apple became the first company to be charged with DMA violations for allegedly preventing rival app developers from easily steering customers to services outside of its App Store.
The EU’s expected fine would penalize Apple over that issue.
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