Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has doubled down on his offensive against EU regulation in a three-hour appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast after a week of acrimony in Europe over his announcement to end fact-checking on his platform.
In the last decade the EU has increasingly sought to tame the worst excesses of the internet, with Meta being firmly in the cross-hairs. In late 2024 alone, the EU fined the tech giant for anti-trust under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and data protection violations of the GDPR.
Therefore, this week’s announcement to end fact-checking at Meta has led to some hopes among national and European politicians and civil society groups that a third law for which Meta is already the subject of an investigation, the Digital Services Act (DSA), could be used to prevent this change.
While Meta wants to roll out the change in 2025, it has pledged to review its obligations under EU law first.
For his part, Zuckerberg brands the past “10 years” of EU regulatory measures as “censorship” on the podcast, identifying their roots in Covid-19 and Brexit, which he says caused the “fragmentation of the EU.”
Talking to podcast host Rogan, Zuckerberg explains the problems with fact-checking as an approach – from the sheer volume of content, which they agree is “bananas,” and the limitations of using automated tools, which led to getting “a bunch of things wrong.”
To be freed from these various EU obligations, Zuckerberg argued “the US government has a role in basically defending [the US tech industry] abroad” – suggestive of a future EU-US clash over these regulations.
Unknown fans of EU regulation
On the podcast, Rogan and Zuckerberg bond over criticisms of Apple and its closed technological ecosystem.
Rogan gripes that when switching from Apple to Android, “you kind of have to redo your whole system” while Zuckerberg doubles down on the company for having “hamstrung” third parties when trying to develop products compatible with Apple.
As an example, he cites a “protocol” that allows Apple’s AirPods to operate seamlessly with other Apple devices but which competitors cannot use.
But in this case, EU law can actually benefit the Facebook founder. The Commission is currently working on Apple’s interoperability with others using the DMA. Consultations closed this week, and the onset of new measures is expected in March.
For its part, Apple has accused Meta of “seeking to alter functionality in a way that raises concerns about the privacy and security of users.”
Zuckerberg’s rightward pivot
Since the re-election of Donald Trump in particular, Zuckerberg has been at pains to restore a good working relationship with the returning president, who had previously threatened to send him to prison.
He has since then dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, donated to the presidential inauguration fund, lifted restrictions on political advertising on his platforms, and announced an end to Meta’s diversity programmes (DEI) – all wishes of America’s political right.
The choice of the podcast also fits Zuckerberg’s attempts to cosy up with Trump. The Joe Rogan Experience is Spotify’s largest single podcast, with 14.5 million followers, and is a go-to source of information for Trump’s base and beyond.
[Edited by Martina Monti]