Ireland’s EU commissioner Michael McGrath sidestepped requests to meet senior executives from Meta, including the Facebook owner’s then head of global affairs Nick Clegg, during the first few weeks in his new role, documents show.
Google, TikTok, Meta and Amazon all sought to meet Mr McGrath, to lobby the former Fianna Fáil minister after he started work in the European Union’s powerful executive.
As EU commissioner for justice and democracy, Mr McGrath will be responsible for introducing new laws to regulate social media influencers and addictive tricks used by platforms to keep people scrolling.
Correspondence, seen by The Irish Times, shows several tech companies tried to line up sit-downs for their senior executives with Mr McGrath, when he took office in December.
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Lobbyists from Meta tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting between Mr Clegg and Mr McGrath. In a December 12th email, Meta said: “Sir [Nick] Clegg would be most grateful for your time to discuss the future of European competitiveness and topics of common interest.” The social media company suggested February 4th as a date.
Mr Clegg, a former UK deputy prime minister when leader of the Liberal Democrats, hoped to talk about “the impact of EU data protection rules enforcement and their interplay with European innovation”, the email said.
Mr McGrath is tasked with overseeing the EU’s strict data rules and new efforts to tackle foreign interference in elections and online disinformation. The brief may bring him into conflict with US tech multinationals, during a particularly sensitive period in EU-US relations.
Meta followed up on January 7th, asking if Mr McGrath “had a chance to consider our request” for a meeting. Correspondence released by the European Commission under access to information rules indicates no written reply was sent.
At the start of the year Meta announced that Mr Clegg would be stepping down from his senior executive position in the coming months. In a January 14th email, Meta said his replacement, prominent US Republican Joel Kaplan, would be available to join the proposed meeting in Brussels as well.
Meta sent a further follow-up a week later, asking one last time if a meeting would be possible. “We completely appreciate how busy your agenda must be,” the email said.
A spokeswoman for Mr McGrath said he was unable to meet Mr Clegg/ due to scheduling reasons. Meta did not respond to requests for comment.
The head of Mr McGrath’s office, Fiona Knab-Lunny, did in late January meet senior Meta lobbyists, who talked about the need for a “consistent and clear regulatory framework” in the EU, minutes show.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk, now a close adviser to US president Donald Trump, have criticised EU regulations on social media platforms as overbearing.
Records show TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew congratulated Mr McGrath on starting the new EU role, in a December 12th letter.
Fighting against “foreign information manipulation and interference” was a priority for the video-sharing app, he said. The TikTok chief added he would be “delighted” to meet Mr McGrath during a trip to Brussels he was planning for early 2025.
Mr McGrath’s office said the commissioner would be available to meet: “Once you have additional details concerning the timing, please kindly let us know”.
Kent Walker, Google’s head of global affairs, and Neal Mohan, YouTube chief executive, jointly congratulated Mr McGrath, before floating the idea of a meeting to discuss “potential areas of collaboration”. The commissioner’s office said he would be available to meet in “March, April or any other suitable time later this year”.
Since taking office in December Mr McGrath has met representatives from Irish Rail, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, and a senior lobbyist from Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein, meetings logs show.
