Under the DMA and the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU is able to penalize Meta financially, up to ten percent of its annual revenue — $16 billion based on 2024 earnings — for not adhering to regulations that Zuckerberg claims promote “institutionalizing censorship” on social media. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Meta fears the potential DMA ruling could affect European revenue, which constitutes nearly a quarter of its total income, by compelling the company to let European users restrict personalized ads on Facebook and Instagram without charge.

Zuckerberg has openly criticized EU regulations, having urged Trump to stop the EU from penalizing American tech companies for antitrust infractions in January. The Wall Street Journal also mentions that Zuckerberg has recently instructed Meta executives to lobby US trade officials to support the company in opposing the expected EU fine. In February, Zuckerberg personally traveled to Washington to seek assistance from officials.

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.