Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has found itself at the center of two major political storms this week, one at home in California and another halfway across the world in Indonesia. Both stories, while unfolding thousands of miles apart, highlight the growing influence—and scrutiny—of tech giants as governments grapple with regulating online platforms and the powerful technologies they deploy.
On August 27, 2025, Meta Platforms announced a bold foray into California politics, revealing plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on a new super PAC. The group, called Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across (Meta) California, is set up to support state-level candidates from both parties who favor the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) over heavy-handed regulation. According to Politico, the move signals Meta’s intention not just to build the next big thing in tech, but to help shape the very rules that govern the industry’s future.
“Sacramento’s regulatory environment could stifle innovation, block AI progress, and put California’s technology leadership at risk. This is why we are launching a California super PAC,” said Brian Rice, Meta’s Vice President of Public Policy, who will lead the effort alongside fellow executive Greg Maurer. For Meta, the stakes are high. As the company invests heavily in AI, the company’s leadership is determined to ensure California remains a global tech powerhouse—one where the rules don’t get in the way of what they see as essential progress.
The super PAC, as reported by GuruFocus, will back candidates who are sympathetic to the tech sector’s concerns about overregulation. The message from Menlo Park is clear: tough legislative measures coming out of Sacramento could slow innovation and threaten not only Meta’s business, but the broader technology ecosystem that has made California a world leader. The company’s move underscores just how much is riding on the future of AI—not just for Meta’s product pipeline, but for the economic and political landscape of the state itself.
But while Meta is ramping up its political engagement in the United States, it’s facing a very different kind of pressure in Southeast Asia. On the same day as its California announcement, Meta was summoned by Indonesian authorities, alongside ByteDance’s TikTok, to answer for the proliferation of harmful online content on their platforms. The Indonesian government, alarmed by a recent surge in disinformation, pornography, and online gambling circulating on social media, ordered the companies to boost their moderation efforts or face stiff penalties.
Deputy Communications Minister Angga Raka Prabowo told Reuters that the government’s aim is simple: to protect the country. “They must comply with the rules because our goal is to protect this country. Penalties in the rules are reprimands, fines, temporary suspension, revoking of access or even kicking them out from a list of registered electronic platforms,” he said. The urgency was unmistakable. “The impact (of disinformation) is chaos... And people do not receive accurate and complete information.”
The backdrop for Indonesia’s crackdown is a wave of unrest that swept through Jakarta on August 25, 2025, when hundreds of demonstrators protested what they described as exorbitant allowances for members of parliament. Some of the unrest, officials say, was fueled by misinformation and manipulated content shared widely on TikTok and Meta’s Instagram. One particularly damaging example was a deep fake video purporting to show Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati declaring that teachers were a burden on the country—a claim that was entirely fabricated but spread rapidly across social media.
Other posts misrepresented old footage of riots in Jakarta as if they were happening in real time, further stoking public anger. According to Angga, the Child Protection Commission reported that some of the detained youth who joined the protests did so after being exposed to TikTok videos calling for demonstrations. The ripple effect of digital misinformation, it seems, is no longer just a theoretical concern—it’s playing out in real time on the streets, with real-world consequences.
To address the crisis, Indonesian authorities have scheduled separate meetings with TikTok and Meta for the week of August 27, 2025, and have invited other major players, including Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube Indonesia, to discuss their responsibilities. The government is demanding that these platforms take proactive steps to moderate or remove harmful content—without waiting for a government request. Inaction could result in anything from fines and temporary suspensions to outright bans from operating in Indonesia.
It’s easy to see why Indonesia is so concerned. TikTok and Instagram each boast more than 100 million accounts based in the country, making Indonesia one of the largest user bases for both platforms globally. The sheer scale of these audiences amplifies the power—and the risk—of viral misinformation. As platforms grow, so too does their responsibility to ensure that users are not misled, manipulated, or exposed to illegal content.
The tension between tech innovation and regulatory oversight is hardly unique to Indonesia or California. Around the world, governments are grappling with how best to harness the benefits of digital platforms and AI, while mitigating their risks. For Meta, the dual pressures—advocating for lighter regulation at home while facing demands for stricter moderation abroad—underscore the complex, often contradictory landscape that global tech companies must navigate.
Meta’s California super PAC is a clear signal that the company is willing to invest heavily in shaping the political environment to favor continued technological advancement. At the same time, its experience in Indonesia is a cautionary tale about what can happen when platforms are seen as failing to take their responsibilities seriously. As the company works to influence lawmakers in Sacramento, it will have to balance those ambitions with the very real need to maintain trust and compliance in markets around the world.
In the end, Meta’s story this week is a microcosm of a much larger debate: how do we foster innovation without sacrificing public safety and social stability? The answer, if there is one, will require more than just political maneuvering or technological wizardry. It will demand a willingness to engage with critics, heed the concerns of regulators, and accept that with great power comes even greater responsibility.
