Who Owns the Media: Meta

Meta 🐔🐔🐔🐔

Capitulation Rank: Obeying
Category: Online Platform 
Market Cap: $1.670 trillion

Following the 2024 election, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg embraced all things Trump. This was a stark reversal after he’d banned the political leader from company platforms back in 2021 for using Facebook to spread election lies and incite the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In the wake of the 2024 election, Zuckerberg congratulated the winning candidate on “a decisive victory” and jetted to Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump – who had once threatened the executive with life in prison. Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, co-hosted a 2025 inauguration event alongside other Trump faithful, and agreed to pay the president $25 million to settle a federal lawsuit dubiously alleging First Amendment violations following the company’s decision to suspend Trump’s accounts after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The newest members of Meta’s board include a number of regime loyalists. 

Kowtowing to an authoritarian leader is nothing new to Meta; it’s been doing it for years to appease strongman regimes worldwide. Its latest capitulation is driven by Zuckerberg’s own political bent but also by his desire to curtail official antitrust efforts targeting his tech empire. In addition, he wants to influence future AI policies in ways that benefit Meta’s multi-billion-dollar investment in the sector.

In January 2025, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook and Instagram will abandon professional third-party content moderators and end professional fact checking in favor of the user-generated “Community Notes” model Elon Musk uses on X. Zuckerberg explained the move as Meta getting “back to our roots around free expression,” but subsequent press reports found the company was cooperating extensively with other governments to suppress dissident voices. Zuckerberg also pledged to work with the Trump administration to oppose any foreign government policies that seek to rein in the global spread of hate and disinformation via technology platforms such as his.

DEI Doublespeak:

Meta complied prior to Trump’s inauguration. In early January, prior to the ceremony, it sent a memo to employees stating its plans to end internal DEI efforts applying to matters like hiring, training and choosing suppliers. Its VP of people said Meta would disband its DEI team.

What It Owns:

Social-media platforms (including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads and WhatsApp), virtual-reality products (including Meta Quest), business-to-business software and products (including Audience Network, Meta Business Suite and Workplace).

Money & Influence Game:

Meta paid lobbyists $24,430,000 in 2024, and Meta employees made $5,530,524 in contributions to political candidates (2024 cycle). In addition to lobbying Congress, Meta has focused its influence peddling on the Federal Trade Commission and courts, where it faces an antitrust challenge to its control of online advertising and ownership of several dominant online platforms. (SOURCE: Center for Responsive Politics)