He lobby of Meta does not rest.
The American technology giant, owner of Instagram, Facebook y WhatsAppis courting the radical right European Union with the intention of weakening digital laws of the community block, including regulations such as the one that regulates the artificial innotifyigencewhich forces the social networks to limit its addictive mechanisms or the one that ensures privacy of applyrs.
In 2025, Meta allocated a total of 10 million euros to pressure European institutions to erode these democratically approved laws. She is not alone. The annual expconcludeiture on lobbying of the digital indusattempt has gone from €113 million in 2023 to €151 million today, an increase of 33.6% in just two years, according to EU Transparency Register data compiled by Corporate Europe.
This practice is common. In USAMeta will mobilize up to 65 million dollars in 2026 to support politicians who are favorable to its interests in the field of IAas has been revealed The New York Times.
Digital deregulation
European pressure from Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and other giants is having an effect. The company headed by the tycoon Mark Zuckerberg has found in the European People’s Party of Ursula von der Leyen and on the extreme right to his main allies. Last November, the European Commission proposed a set of amconcludements to simplify the digital regulation that include some of the requests from the technology indusattempt.
The Spanish MEP who has met the most times with the Big Tech es Pablo Arias Echevarríaof the PP and member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Commission. On up to seven occasions he has met with lobbyists from Meta, Apple, Google and Amazon to address these digital laws.
Ironically, the MEP who will draft the position of the European Parliament on privacy and data reforms will be Finnish Aura Salla, also from the European People’s Party and director of social relations at Meta in the EU between 2020 and 2023.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the plenary session of the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg (France) this week. / Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
That deregulatory package, known as Everything Digitalhas been denounced by social democrats, liberals, greens and hundreds of civil society organizations. Also by the European Data Protection Committee (EDPC) and European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), which last week issued a statement in which they “strongly” urge legislators not to approve the alters proposed by Brussels in relation to the data protection considering that they would violate those rights.
The extreme right, necessary
This broad opposition to the deregulatory proposal means that conservatives They required the support of the parties further to their right. Aware of this, Meta has maneuvered to have your vote. Since the launchning of 2025, pressure groups related to the technology giant have met with a total of 36 MEPs from extreme right or radical right, 18 from each of the two groups that build up the European Parliamentaccording to data collected by Integrity Watch and Corporate Europe.
On the one hand there is Patriotas.euformed by the National Group of Marine Le Penbut Fidesz Viktor Orbánthe League of Matteo Salvini o Vox and which has 84 seats, the third largest force in the Chamber. Santiago Abascal He is your president. The Spanish MEP Jorge Martin Friasalso director of believe tank Dissent Foundationmet last May with Meta to talk about “simplification of European standards.”
On the other, there is the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), formed by Brothers of Italythe prime minister’s post-fascist party Giorgia Melonior Polish Law and Justiceamong others. It has 78 seats, building it the fourth largest force.
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