Zuckerberg’s Political Pivot Targets Apple, puts meta staffers on edge

Mark zuckerberg Kicked off 2025 with an instagram video that outlined his vision for what he called restoring “free expression” to Meta‘s platforms and for working with president Donald Trump To push back on governments zuckerberg said have gone after American companies and stifled innovation.

What Zuckerberg Didn’T Say Say in his five-miniature monologue was that meta would use its own internal moderators to Censor Employee Criticism of His Plan. He also didn’t say that by coating up to the new president, his company might be able to shift trump’s ire in the direction of meta’s loath Apple,

For Meta’s Staff of Almost 75,000 people, The Singular Power of Its 40-YLD Founder and Ceo is more Evident Than Ever in the Company’s Rightward Since Right Since Trump ‘ Y.

On Feb. 6, zuckerberg visited the white house in order ” post on x.

Based on Interviews with Over a Dozen Current and Former Employees Who Asked Not To Be Named in Order to Speak Candidly on What they Seey Happening Inside The Company, There is a profood SENSE OF UNCERTANY A’s Culture will change in the coming years of trump’s Second presidency.

At Headquarters in Silicon Valley, Tensions are Palpable as Meta Goes Through Its Latest Round of Job Cuts. In January, The Company Announced Plans to Lay off Its lowest performsOr 5% of its overall workforce, and began the cuts this week.

Meta has been trying to thwart pushback from employers by Criticism within its workplace in-House Social Network, People Familiar with the Matter Said. Employees who left comments that management viewed as negative on workplace Were told that their statements would be used in performance reviews, potentially affected their employment, they said.

Sources also told cnbc that employees who might otherwise leave That meta has said publicly that it’s weeding out “low per performers.”

Meta, like many of its tech peers, began downsizing in 2022 and has continued to trim around the edges. The Company Cut 21,000 Jobs, or Nearly a Quarter of its workforce, in 2022 and 2023. Civic Integrity GroupWhoch was knowledge to be outspocen in its criticism of zuckerberg’s Leadership.

Some big changes are Now taking place that appear to directly follow the lead of trump at the expenses of company employees and users of the platforms, the people family family said.

Most notably, meta recently ended its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program and relaxed content-modiration guidelinesBoth areas that trump has attacked in his War on “Woke policies.”

When meta filed its annual report With the Securities and Exchange Commission in Late January, The Document Noted Its Drastic Shifts, Listing Them in the Section About Business Risters.

“In January 2025, we announced certain changes to our content policies and enforcement efforts to further free expression on our platform and mitigate over-enforcement of certain of our content policies,” Meta said. “If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brands, our ability to maintain or expand our base of users, marketers, and developers may be impaired, and our business and financial results may be harmed.”

Meta declined to comment.

Zuckerberg is willing to take on such risks trust of the potential benefits that come with smoothing his Relationship with Trump, The People Familiar with the Matter Said. In contrast to meta’s previous strategy of advocating for an even playing field across the tech industry, zuckerberg now sees opoportunities to gain a strategic advantage for his company, the pepana.

One Major Concern for Zuckerberg is Elon musk’s Central Position in the Trump Administration, where he’s focused on slashing regulations. Meta Compets with Musk’s X and is also investment heavily in artificial intelligence, an area of ​​particular interest to Musk and his Startup Xai. Musk’s role in the white house box at a disadvantage when it comes to policies surrounding ai.

But more than AI and Musk, Zuckerberg is looking for a leg up on apple, the people said.

Zuckerberg hopes that meta’s improved relationship with the white house could help put pressure on the iPhone maker, after a yearslong battle between the twoch heavyweights. Both companies were targets of antitrust suits from the US government.

The meta founder is still upset about apple’s 2021 iOS privacy update, which made it harder for meta to track users access the internet and which put a $ 10 billion dent in the company’s 2022 advertising revenue. Internally, this period has come to be known some meta employees as “the tim cook receration.”

Many App Developers, Including Spotify And EPIC Games, Have Battled Apple Eite in Public or in Court over the company’s app store rules and control over its ecosystem. Zuckerberg has been one of the loudest critics of apple in the past, but he has become even more antagonistic toward the company in recent public interviews. Sources Told CNBC that it’s all part of an effort to shift antitrust scrutiny off meta and onto apple.

In a January interview With podcast host joe rogan, zuckerberg claimed that apple is a BComing Less Innovative and that It’s Putting Resources Toward Preventing Third Parties from Creating Hardware Peripherals Peripherals Le’s mobile operating system.

“They build stuff like air pods, which are cool, but they’ve just thoroughly hamstrung the ability for anyone else to build sometings that can connect to the iphone in the iphone in the same way.

Meta’s Business has recovered from its downdraft that followed the iOS changes, due to the company’s Investments in AI And the new capabilities they’ve provided to advertisers. In January, The Company Reported $ 160.6 Billion in Advertising Revenue For 2024, Up Nearly 40% From 2021. The company’s shares have been on a huge upswing ears and closing at a record $ 728.56 on Thursday.

Zuckerberg Told Rogan That Meta’s Profit would doubled if apple stopped applying “random rules” that tax his company.

Meta’s Actions Against Apple Aren’T Limited to the Us in One of the company’s first steps this year to apply more policy pressure on apple, meta filled a Complaint Against the iPhone maker in late January with Brazil’s competition regulator, the administer council for economic defense.

In the complaint, meta alleged that apple’s iOS update unfairly singles out third-party apps but not its oven. Meta has been considering an antitrust complant against Apple in Brazil Since Last Year, A Source Familiarar with the Matter Said.

Apple and x did not respond to requests for comment.

Leading Meta’s New Policy Charge is Joel Kaplan, A Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Under Former President George W. Bush with Longstanding Ties to the Republican Party.

Kaplan Took Over Meta’s Top Policy Position From nick clegg, a former uk deputy prime minister, who said in january that he would step down after Seven years at the company.

Other Notable Republicans at Meta Include Vice President of Global Public Policy Kevin Martin, A Former Federal Communications Commission Commission Commission Chairman Under Ead, whom trump previous appointed as a legal advisor at the state department.

Kaplan’s Ascendency at Meta Coupled With the Company’s Policy Changes Has Solidified a Political Shift to the Right, Multiple Sources said.

Since joining meta in 2011 as a policy Vice President, Kaplan has Built a reputation as an executive who takes calculated risks even if it means upsetting some people internal

In 2018, Kaplan made headlines for Attending Brett Kavanugh’s highly contential supreme court confirmation hearing as a personal friend. His appearance caused so much controversy that meta was forced to Address The matter in a statement, saying the “Leadership team recognizes that they’ve made mistakes handling the events of the last week and wee we are grateful for all the feedback from our Emplooyes.”

What may have been a problem for kaplan at the time is now Viewed as a strength. That’s trust the executive is soen as an ally to the republicans in charge, the people said.

CLGG, By Contrast, Repired a more Center-Left Position, They SAID. He was vocal in his support of banning trump from Facebook’s platform after the jan. 6 Capitol riot, while kaplan was noticeably more reluctant about Kaplan has also favored less link content modiration policies, The Person Said.

Meta in January agreed to pay $ 25 million as part of a settlement With Trump over the company’s decision to suspend his accounts following the capitol riot. In January 2023, Meta said It was reinstating trump on its platform after the two-Year Suspension.

The company’s efforts to win favorite with trump see to be working, at least based on what the president has publicly said.

After kaplan announced Meta’s Major Content-Moderation and Related Policy Shifts in Early January on “Fox and Friends,” Trump appeared to be impressed.

“Honestly, I think they’ve come a long way. 7 Press Conference. About Kaplan, Trump said, “The man was very impressive.”

, CNBC’s salvador rodriguez contributed to this report.

Watch, Zuckerberg Feels he’s Beyond Criticism Anymore, Says Wire’s Steven Levy