The EU is poised to hit Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, with a massive fine of $1 billion or more for allegedly violating its strict antitrust regulations, according to sources close to the situation.
The New York Post reports that the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust watchdog, is expected to conclude that Meta is not in compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The landmark law, which took effect in 2023, applies tough competition rules on Meta and six other companies deemed internet gatekeepers.
Sources familiar with the matter told the Post that the fine is expected to range from hundreds of millions of dollars to potentially more than $1 billion. The EU’s probe into Meta is expected to wrap up as early as this week, with an announcement about the commission’s enforcement action to follow immediately after.
In addition to the hefty fine, EU officials are also expected to issue a “cease-and-desist” notice to Meta, informing the company of the changes it must make to comply with the DMA. Representatives for both Meta and the European Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple is also under the EU’s scrutiny, with a potential fine against the iPhone maker expected to be announced this week or next week, according to the sources.
The DMA, which aims to prevent tech giants from crushing smaller rivals through anticompetitive behavior, applies to companies deemed “gatekeepers,” including Google, Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company), and Microsoft. Under the law, these companies can face fines of up to 10 percent of their global revenue, with repeat offenses potentially leading to fines of up to 20 percent of global revenue.
In July 2023, the EU issued preliminary charges accusing Meta of violating the DMA by forcing customers into a restrictive “pay or consent” model for ads on Instagram and Facebook. The issue centered around Meta’s rollout of a subscription service that required users to either pay a monthly fee for an ad-free experience or consent to the use of their personal data for targeted ads.
Meta has expressed frustration with the DMA, stating in a recent public compliance report that it has “continued to receive additional demands that go beyond what is written in the law” despite efforts to adhere to the rules.
The EU’s actions have drawn sharp criticism from Big Tech and U.S. President Donald Trump, who has accused Europe of ripping off the United States and vowed to impose retaliatory tariffs to level the playing field. Trump issued a memo last month warning that his administration will consider responsive actions like tariffs to combat the fines, practices, and policies that foreign governments levy on American companies.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has recently cozied up to Trump, has argued that the EU’s fines targeting Big Tech companies are “almost like a tariff” and have become “sort of like an EU-wide policy for how they want to deal with American tech.” Zuckerberg believes that Trump should fight back against these fines, stating that it should be part of the U.S. strategy to defend the country’s strongest companies.
The impending fine against Meta is just the latest development in the ongoing tension between the EU and American tech giants over data privacy and antitrust issues. In 2023, the EU issued a record fine of $1.3 billion against Meta for improperly transferring European users’ data to the United States.
Read more at the New York Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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