It’s the moment of truth for Zuckerberg’s Trump bet
1 min read
Summary
EU regulators are due to announce any day now whether they will fine Meta (Facebook and Instagram) for violating the bloc’s Digital Markets Act with its ‘pay or consent’ advertising model.
Under the DMA and Digital Services Act, EU regulators can impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual global revenue the previous year, which in Meta’s case would be $16bn based on 2024 earnings.
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has sought to build a relationship with Trump, visiting him at Mar-a-Lago, donating $1m to his inauguration fund, and embedding himself within Trump’s oligarchy of support by other wealthy US tech leaders.
Zuckerberg has also publicly criticised the EU’s regulation of social media, called for Trump to prevent fines, and visited Washington to lobby US trade officials for assistance in the matter.
The fine is due to the imposition of the ‘pay or consent’ model on Facebook and Instagram users in the EU, rather than the option to limit personalised ads for free.