Why do companies change their political activity in the age of Trump? A comparative case study examining antecedents of corporate political activity of Meta, a ‘Big Tech’ company

Abstract

Within the field of corporate political activity (CPA), there has been a limited examination of why companies engage in politics or adjust their political strategies vis-à-vis main actors or institutions. In this study, I focus on the explanations of CPA from the perspective of one firm (META) as I explore the company’s recent changes in their CPA. Since Trump’s re-election, Meta, among other ‘Big Tech’ companies, seemed to have tried to forge a closer relationship with the executive. To find out the reasons behind Meta’s turnabout, I conducted a case study, comparing the company during two periods: 2016-2020 and 2021-2025. By testing three hypotheses, I analyzed different antecedents of CPA on three different levels: the individual, the firm, and the societal. At the individual level, the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook posts were studied to investigate whether there was a change in the CEO’s political ideology. Regarding the firm, an examination of the company’s news announcements was conducted for Meta’s views on regulatory burden. At the societal level, the analysis focused on reports from Pew Research to find potential public opinion trends that could drive changes in CPA. The results suggest that Meta’s CPA is driven mainly by increasing negative perception of regulations. However, I identify indications of change in Meta’s CEO’s political ideology, and public opinion trends that could also have justified changes in CPA. For the reasons I explain in the discussion, these latter findings should be interpreted with caution.