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No more fact-checking on Facebook, Zuckerberg says in policy shift
Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared he would be putting their fact-checking policy on hold. This policy alteration arrives before the Trump administration.
Two weeks before the inauguration, Meta’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg appointed Donald Trump’s ally and UFC leader Dana White to its board of directors.
Zuckerberg also adopted a strategy from Trump ally Elon Musk, delegating content regulation to users and relaxing limits on hate speech across his company’s social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Only a few days prior, Meta promoted notable Republican Joel Kaplan to oversee its global affairs operations, after he had been a longstanding executive at the technology firm. In the rollout, Kaplan praised the modifications to Meta’s platforms on Fox News.
“It feels like we’re entering a new era,” Zuckerberg remarked, positioning the change as a revival of the company’s foundational principles centered on free expression.
While it is typical for major corporations to align themselves with an incoming administration, the methodology is generally more understated, according to Dan Schnur, who teaches strategic political communication at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley.
“Trump might have not recognized a more conventional lobbying tactic, but this was impossible for him to overlook, which was precisely the intent from the outset,” Schnur commented.
During a press event Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump commended Meta for its MAGA transformation, expressing, “I believe they’ve made significant progress.” When questioned if Meta was reacting to threats made against the company and Zuckerberg, the President-elect replied: “Probably.”
Zuckerberg and Trump: A complex relationship
The connection between Zuckerberg and Trump is intricate.
In 2019, Zuckerberg met with the president at the Oval Office. The subsequent year, Trump dined with the billionaire social media executive and claimed Zuckerberg praised him for being “No. 1 on Facebook.”
However, tensions escalated following the invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, leading Zuckerberg to suspend Trump from his company’s social media platforms.
Trump has branded Facebook an “enemy of the populace” and labeled Zuckerberg a “criminal.” He alleged “Zuckerbucks” were scheming against him during the 2020 election. Trump has even threatened Zuckerberg with a lifetime of imprisonment if he attempted to manipulate the 2024 election against him.
Perceiving the changing political climate, Zuckerberg has been striving for months to rejuvenate the relationship. He referred to the President-elect as a “badass” after the assassination attempt in July.
Following Trump’s significant victory, Zuckerberg extended his congratulations to the President-elect on Threads: “Excited to collaborate with you and your administration.”
After two days of discussions between their advisors, Zuckerberg dined with Donald Trump on the terrace of his exclusive Mar-a-Lago club in November and presented him with a pair of his company’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. Meta then diverged from company norms by contributing $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Zuckerberg courts Trump’s favor
With Republicans regaining authority in both houses of Congress and advocating for regulatory changes to Big Tech, Zuckerberg intensified his outreach efforts.
Last week, Zuckerberg rearranged his executive team, replacing Nick Clegg, a centrist former British deputy prime minister, with Kaplan as the global policy head of the company.
This week, Zuckerberg described Trump’s electoral victory as “a cultural tipping point.”
As a reaction to a lengthy campaign from Trump and conservatives accusing Meta of stifling their political perspectives, he decided to terminate fact-checking practices and pledged to relocate trust and safety personnel from California to Texas “where there’s less apprehension regarding the bias of our teams.”
“We encountered a significant amount of societal and political influence, all pushing towards increased content moderation and censorship. And we now have a genuine opportunity,” Kaplan stated. “We’ve got a new administration and an incoming president who are ardent advocates of free expression, and that truly matters.”
Some members of Trump’s circle embraced the political shift.
“Thank you Zuck and Meta for acknowledging that the censorship had become excessive, and for seizing the chance to adjust your course. I believe you are returning to your foundational principles,” David Sacks, Trump’s cryptocurrency and AI advisor, mentioned on X.
Underlying the realignment: Regulation, immigration, and AI
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan informed reporters that he intends to meet with Zuckerberg in the upcoming weeks. This news was likely received positively.
Similar to other corporate leaders, regaining Trump’s favor along with that of the GOP establishment could significantly impact the next four years.
On one hand, Meta and other corporations desire Trump’s attention on critical policy matters for the tech industry such as immigration, trade, and energy tariffs.
Trump has already indicated a readiness to diverge from his grassroots base and ally with Musk and tech firms over visas for skilled laborers.
Even more crucial is the promise of diminished regulation.
“He appears to have plenty of enthusiasm for reducing regulation,” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos remarked about Trump at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit. “If I can assist in this effort, I’m going to help him.”
Mixed responses from Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill
Steering clear of regulatory conflicts is a major priority for Zuckerberg. Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Trade Commission, had pledged to target companies “that facilitate or endorse censorship.” Meta is currently dealing with an antitrust lawsuit from the FTC aiming to dismantle it.
Not all conservatives on Capitol Hill were easily swayed by Meta’s shift.
In truth, the alterations Zuckerberg implemented were not as extensive as they seemed. Meta had already softened regulations to restrict the dissemination of misinformation. Leading up to the election, Meta permitted claims that the 2020 election was manipulated in political advertisements.
“Now that President Trump is poised to assume office, Meta has reportedly decided to halt the censorship of conservatives,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican from Tennessee, wrote on X. “This is a tactic to evade regulation. We will not be deceived.”
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