“Daaaaaaaaad, the Europeans are picking on me again!”
Alright, so that’s not a direct quote from Meta’s chief of global affairs Joel Kaplan, who spoke at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, but it’s not far off.
According to Bloomberg, Kaplan popped over to Europe to let political leaders there know Meta “won’t shy away” from getting President Donald Trump involved if it continues to face crackdowns at the hands of the European Union. Kaplan reportedly told the audience that it’s up to the Trump administration to decide if EU penalties against American tech companies are unfair, but it won’t be afraid to squeal if needed.
“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 during a panel at the conference, per Bloomberg. “While we want to work within the confines of the laws that Europe has passed, and we always will, we will point out when we think we’ve been treated unfairly.”
Meta has certainly been in the EU’s sights, racking up more than $3 million in fines for violations of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) alone, and faces an ongoing investigation that alleges it failed to protect minors on its platform. Earlier this month, Meta announced it would open up its Facebook Marketplace platform to third-party competitors in the EU following an antitrust fine. Then again, Meta could simply stop maintaining monopolistic control over platforms and breaking laws if it doesn’t want to deal with the consequences. Just a free idea for Zuckerberg and the gang.
Most noteworthy is Kaplan signaling a new posture when it comes to international regulators. The company has certainly expressed its displeasure with the penalties it has faced in the past and has gone so far as to dispute some. But now it’s trying a new strategy: threatening to cry to Trump.
It’s not the most surprising move. Zuckerberg has been cozying up to Trump since he started polling well prior to the 2024 election. Following Trump’s victory, Zuck made a point to go down and visit him at Mar-a-Lago, started changing platform moderation policies to be more favorable to the Trumpian agenda, and promoted Kaplan, a longtime Republican political operative.<
Trump has also given some early signs that he might push back on attempts to punish American firms like Meta. While speaking at the World Economic Forum last month, the President said the EU shouldn’t be fining American companies, calling it “a form of taxation” and saying “We have some very big complaints with the EU.”
It seems Meta picked up on that message and is carrying it forward, wielding it as a warning against regulators who might be considering doing their job. Certainly can’t have that, especially not at Meta’s expense.
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