It’s the moment of truth for Zuckerberg’s Trump bet

Mark Zuckerberg — having spent months cozying up to President Donald Trump — will now be looking to reap the benefits as European tech regulators bear down on Meta. The EU is expected to impose fines against the social media giant any day now, having preliminarily ruled in July 2024 that Facebook and Instagram’s “pay or consent” advertising model violates the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Zuckerberg was swift to congratulate Trump following the election results in November, making several journeys to Mar-a-Lago, tithing $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, and embedding himself as one of several wealthy US tech leaders to foster an oligarchy around the President. Meta’s policies have also evolved to embrace Trump’s playbook, having appointed UFC CEO and noted Trump supporter, Dana White, to its board, alongside ditching third-party fact-checkers and disbanding the Meta diversity team.

Under the DMA and Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU can financially penalize Meta up to ten percent of its annual revenue — $16 billion based on the company’s 2024 earnings — for failing to comply with regulatory requirements that Zuckerberg has accused of “institutionalizing censorship” across social media platforms. According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta is worried that the expected DMA ruling against Meta’s “pay or consent” model could impact its European revenue, which accounts for almost a quarter of its overall earnings, by forcing the company to allow European users to limit personalized ads on Facebook and Instagram for free.

Zuckerberg has already voiced his distaste for EU regulations, having called for Trump to prevent the EU from fining American tech companies over antitrust violations in January. The Wall Street Journal reports that Zuckerberg has also directed Meta executives in recent weeks to push US trade officials to help the company fight against the anticipated EU fine. Zuckerberg himself paid a visit to Washington in February to beg officials for help.

The EU is under pressure to scale back penalties against US tech companies or risk further retaliation atop of the tariffs that have already been threatened by the Trump administration. We’ll see how effective Zuck’s bootlicking has been when the EU renders its imminent decision.