According to a report on the New York Post on the 16th, US media reported that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social media giant "Meta" company, personally lobbied former US President Trump in order to reduce the settlement amount for the antitrust lawsuit filed by the US government against Meta from $30 billion to $450 million and donated $1 million to Trump's presidential inauguration ceremony. The Wall Street Journal reported that in recent months, Zuckerberg has rapidly changed his attitude and taken a series of measures to please Trump, including attending Trump's inauguration ceremony with other wealthy individuals, as well as reaching a $25 million settlement in related litigation cases regarding the event of Facebook banning Trump's account on Meta's social platform "Facebook". Since January this year, Zuckerberg has visited the White House at least three times. During these meetings, Zuckerberg lobbied Trump to personally intervene to facilitate the settlement of the antitrust charges against Meta. Meta proposed a settlement amount of $450 million, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initially sought a fine of $30 billion. The relevant antitrust charges may also lead to the forced breakup of Meta. The report cited sources as saying that Zuckerberg proposed this $450 million amount during a phone call with FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson in late March. Sources said that during the call, Zuckerberg "sounded confident" that Trump would support him on the FTC issue. However, Ferguson refused, stating that he would not accept a settlement amount lower than $18 billion and that Meta must agree to ensure it no longer engages in activities harmful to market competition. In response, Zuckerberg raised the amount to close to $1 billion, but the two sides have yet to reach an agreement. The FTC's lawsuit claims that before emerging competitors such as Instagram and WhatsApp threatened Meta, Zuckerberg adopted an "acquire or bury" strategy to gain market monopoly. Meta Company refutes this claim, arguing that its social platforms such as "Facebook" are competing with video-sharing platforms like TikTok and YouTube under Google for users. However, the FTC believes that these video platforms are in different competitive markets from those provided by Meta. A Meta spokesperson said the company "is prepared to win in court." Zuckerberg (right) with former US President Trump. Photo source: foreign media materials. Kong Erjun Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7494203922040455714/ Disclaimer: This article only represents the author's personal views. Please express your opinions by clicking the "like/dislike" buttons below.