Zuckerberg’s rightward plan change hits Meta staffers, targets Apple

Mark Zuckerberg started 2025 with an Instagram video clip that detailed his vision of what he called bring back “free expression” to Meta‘s systems and for collaborating with President Donald Trump to press back on federal governments Zuckerberg stated have actually pursued American business and suppressed technology.

What Zuckerberg really did not claim in his five-minute talk was that Meta would certainly utilize its very own interior mediators to censor staff member objection of his strategy. He additionally really did not claim that by cozying as much as the brand-new head of state, his business could be able to move Trump’s wrath towards Meta’s hated competing Apple.

For Meta’s personnel of practically 75,000 individuals, the particular power of its 40-year-old creator and chief executive officer is extra noticeable than ever before in the business’s rightward change considering that Trump’s political election success in November and launch in January.

On Feb 6, Zuckerberg saw the White House in order “to discuss how Meta can help the administration defend and advance American tech leadership abroad,” Meta speaker Andy Stone stated in a post on X.

Based on meetings with over a lots present and previous workers that asked not to be called in order to talk openly on what they see taking place inside the business, there’s an extensive feeling of unpredictability regarding just how Meta’s society will certainly alter in the coming years of Trump’s 2nd presidency.

At head office in Silicon Valley, stress are apparent as Meta experiences its most recent round of task cuts. In January, the business introduced strategies to give up its cheapest entertainers, or 5% of its general labor force, and started the cuts today.

Meta has actually been attempting to ward off pushback from workers by censoring objection within its Workplace internal social media network, individuals knowledgeable about the issue stated. Employees that left remarks that administration deemed unfavorable on Workplace were informed that their declarations would certainly be made use of in efficiency evaluations, possibly influencing their work, they stated.

Sources additionally informed that workers that could or else leave due to their disillusionment with plan modifications are worried regarding stopping currently due to just how they will certainly be viewed by future companies considered that Meta has actually stated openly that it’s extracting “low performers.”

Meta, like most of its technology peers, started scaling down in 2022 and has actually remained to cut around the sides. The business reduced 21,000 work, or virtually a quarter of its labor force, in 2022 and 2023. Among those that shed their work were participants of the public honesty team, which was understood to be forthright in its objection of Zuckerberg’s management.

Some huge modifications are currently occurring that show up to straight adhere to the lead of Trump at the expenditure of business workers and customers of the systems, individuals knowledgeable about the issue stated.

Most significantly, Meta just recently finished its variety, equity and incorporation program and unwinded content-moderation standards, both locations that Trump has actually struck in his battle on “woke policies.”

When Meta submitted its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission in late January, the file noted its extreme changes, detailing them in the area regarding organization threats.

“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 stated. “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 decreased to comment.

Zuckerberg wants to handle such threats due to the possible advantages that feature smoothing his partnership with Trump, individuals knowledgeable about the issue stated. In comparison to Meta’s previous technique of supporting for an also playing area throughout the technology market, Zuckerberg currently sees possibilities to get a critical benefit for his business, individuals stated.

One significant problem for Zuckerberg is Elon Musk’s central position in the Trump administration, where he’s focused on slashing regulations. Meta competes with Musk’s X and is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence, an area of particular interest to Musk and his startup xAI. Musk’s role in the White House could put Meta 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 two tech heavyweights. Both companies were targets of antitrust suits from the U.S. government.

The Meta founder is still upset about Apple’s 2021 iOS privacy update, which made it harder for Meta to track users across the internet and which put a $10 billion dent in the company’s 2022 advertising revenue. Internally, this period has come to be known among some Meta employees as “the Tim Cook recession.” 

Many app developers, including Spotify and Epic Games, have battled Apple either 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 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 becoming less innovative and that it’s putting resources toward preventing third parties from creating hardware peripherals that integrate smoothly into Apple’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 something that can connect to the iPhone in the same way,” Zuckerberg said.

Meta’s business has recovered from its downdraft that followed the iOS changes, due mostly 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 since a brutal 2022, quadrupling over the past two years and closing at a record $728.56 on Thursday.

Zuckerberg told Rogan that Meta’s profit would double if Apple stopped applying “random rules” that tax his company. 

Meta’s actions against Apple aren’t limited to the U.S. In one of the company’s first steps this year to apply more policy pressure on Apple, Meta filed a complaint versus the apple iphone manufacturer in late January with Brazil’s competitors regulatory authority, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense.

In the issue, Meta declared that Apple’s iphone upgrade unjustly songs out third-party applications yet not its very own. Meta has actually been thinking about an antitrust issue versus Apple in Brazil considering that in 2014, a resource knowledgeable about the issue stated.

Apple and X did not react to ask for remark.

Leading Meta’s brand-new plan cost is Joel Kaplan, a previous White House replacement principal of personnel under previous President George W. Bush with historical connections to theRepublican Party

Kaplan took control of Meta’s top policy position from Nick Clegg, a former U.K. 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 chairman under President George W. Bush, and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead, whom Trump previously 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 internally, the people said.

In 2018, Kaplan made headlines for attending Brett Kavanaugh’s highly contentious 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 we’re grateful for all the feedback from our employees.”

What may have been a problem for Kaplan at the time is now viewed as a strength. That’s because the executive is seen as an ally to the Republicans in charge, the people said.

Clegg, by contrast, represented 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 such a move, a person familiar with the matter said. Kaplan has also favored less strict content moderation 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 favor with Trump seem to be working, at least based on what the president has publicly said.

After Kaplan announced Meta’s significant content-moderation and associated plan changes in very early January on “Fox and Friends,” Trump seemed amazed.

“Honestly, I think they’ve come a long way. Meta, Facebook, I think they’ve come a long way,” Trump informed press reporters throughout aJan 7 interview. About Kaplan, Trump stated, “The man was very impressive.”

—‘s Salvador Rodriguez added to this record.

Watch: Zuckerberg feels he’s past objection any longer, claims Wired’s Steven Levy