Global Affairs lead Joel Kaplan suggested Meta is being discriminated against.
Jared Kushner, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Joel Kaplan, and President Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office. © Joyce N. Boghosian/Flickr
**”‘Daaaaaad, the Europeans are being mean to me again!’
Okay, that’s not an exact quote from Meta’s chief of global affairs, Joel Kaplan, during his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday—but it’s pretty close.”**
“According to Bloomberg, Joel Kaplan traveled to Europe to warn political leaders that Meta ‘won’t shy away’ from involving President Donald Trump if the European Union continues its regulatory crackdowns. Kaplan reportedly stated that it’s up to the Trump administration to determine whether EU penalties against American tech companies are unjust—but made it clear that Meta won’t hesitate to escalate the issue if necessary.”
“Speaking at the conference, Kaplan stated, according to Bloomberg, ‘When companies face discriminatory treatment, it should be brought to the attention of their home government.’ He emphasized that while Meta intends to comply with European laws, it won’t hesitate to call out instances where it believes it has been treated unfairly.”
**”Meta has been firmly in the European Union’s crosshairs, accumulating over $3 million in fines for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) alone. In addition to these hefty penalties, the company is currently under investigation for allegedly failing to protect minors on its platform, further intensifying regulatory scrutiny.
Earlier this month, in response to an antitrust fine, Meta announced plans to open its Facebook Marketplace platform to third-party competitors within the EU. While this move is positioned as compliance with regulatory demands, it’s also a strategic attempt to ease tensions with European lawmakers.
Of course, there’s always a simpler solution—Meta could choose to stop engaging in monopolistic practices and violating regulations in the first place. Just a friendly suggestion for Zuckerberg and his team, free of charge.”**
**”What stands out most is Kaplan’s signaling of a shift in Meta’s approach toward international regulators. While the company has previously pushed back against penalties—sometimes even disputing them—it now appears to be embracing a new tactic: threatening to escalate matters to Trump.
This move isn’t exactly shocking. Zuckerberg has been aligning himself with Trump ever since the former president’s poll numbers began climbing ahead of the 2024 election. After Trump’s victory, Zuckerberg made a deliberate trip to Mar-a-Lago, adjusted platform moderation policies to better align with Trump’s agenda, and elevated Kaplan—a seasoned Republican political operative—within Meta’s ranks.”**