Mark Zuckerberg met Donald Trump again in Palm Beach, sparking criticism over his recent policy changes, including ending Facebook’s fact-checking program to combat misinformation. Critics, including Meta’s Oversight Committee co-chair Michael McConnell, suggest Zuckerberg is succumbing to political pressure. This shift coincides with appointing pro-Trump executives, notably Dana White, to Meta’s board, and allowing potentially harmful claims about LGBT individuals. Zuckerberg defends his action as a balance between freedom of expression and content moderation. Observers are alarmed by these developments, fearing they reflect a deeper alignment with Trump rather than an authentic approach to content regulation.
Mark Zuckerberg met with Donald Trump for the second time since the election, as the Facebook owner confronts critics of his so-called MAGA makeover.
The tech titan was seen boarding a private jet parked next to President Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, after the two met at Mar-a-Lago.
Meta’s Oversight Committee Co-Chairman Suggests Zuckerberg is “Kowtowing to Trump” by Stopping Facebook’s Fact-Checks, Says He Was Blindsided by Surprising U-Turn I admitted it.
Mr. Zuckerberg, who heads Meta Group, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, is in the midst of an abrupt change in direction that has taken users and staff by surprise.
He announced the end of a fact-checking program that multiple studies have found reduces misinformation on meta-social media sites.
The billionaire also moved to allow LGBT people to be called mentally ill, promoted the most pro-Trump executives, and put UFC boss Dana White on the board.
Michael McConnell, co-chair of the Meta Oversight Committee, was almost alarmed when asked about the changes, but acknowledged the optics were “bad.”
Mark Zuckerberg was spotted meeting with Donald Trump at Palm Beach Airport on Friday for the second time since the election.
His jet was significantly smaller than the Trump Force One, a modified Boeing 757 parked next to it on the tarmac.
“I think there’s bad optics here. It looks like it’s real, and it could even be real, but I don’t know,” he told NPR.
But this certainly appears to be bowing to political pressure. I would have liked to have seen these reforms developed in a time of less controversy and less partisan conflict, where they were considered on their merits.
“It’s more like, you know, Donald Trump is president, and now they’re caved.”
The Meta Oversight Board is comprised of legal, human rights, and journalism experts from around the world and reviews content moderation policies and decisions.
McConnell acknowledged that “there is pretty overwhelming evidence that fact checkers correct far more content on the right side of the spectrum than on the left side,” but it’s not clear whether that’s because there are more lies from the right side. said.
He said the board was blindsided by Zuckerberg’s decision and was not consulted before making the announcement.
“I didn’t know they were going to revise that standard,” he said of the fact-checking program.
After the meeting at Mar-a-Lago, the tech giant was seen boarding a private jet parked next to Trump at the airport in Palm Beach, Florida.
Zuckerberg strode from his car to his Gulfstream G650 jet at Palm Beach International Airport, wearing a navy suit and matching red tie.
Zuckerberg’s announcement that he will stop “fact-checking” about meth completes his transformation from the man who banned Trump from his platform to a full-fledged supporter of the president-elect.
In contrast, Zuckerberg told the president-elect’s team in advance, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Zuckerberg dined with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago after the election, donated $1 million to the president’s inauguration, and had a second meeting on Friday.
He strode from his car to his Gulfstream G650 jet at Palm Beach International Airport wearing a navy suit and matching red tie.
His jet was significantly smaller than the Trump Force One, a modified Boeing 757 parked next to it on the tarmac.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Zuckerberg met in the Oval Office in September 2019.
In a five-minute video explaining the new policy, Zuckerberg argued that fact-checking has “reached the point of too many errors and excessive censorship.”
“Fact checkers are so politically biased that they destroy more trust than they build,” he said.
Joel Kaplan, a Trump ally whom Zuckerberg promoted to chief international affairs officer after the election, also argued on Fox News that Meta’s fact-checking program has “too much political bias.”
These claims were contradicted by an independent study that found the program helped reduce misinformation.
It was found that the number of people who believed falsehoods decreased compared to before the implementation.
Meta has made several moves in recent days that are likely to please the Trump campaign, including appointing former Republican Party official Joel Kaplan as its communications director.
On Monday, Mr. Zuckerberg added Dana White to Meta’s board of directors, in a separate branch from Mr. Trump.
Zuckerberg also appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast to discuss policy changes.
Zuckerberg acknowledged the rise in misinformation, but argued it was more important to allow near-unfettered freedom of expression.
“In reality, it’s a trade-off. Not only does it mean less bad stuff gets caught, but it also means fewer posts and accounts of innocent people get deleted by mistake,” he said. said.
Another policy change that many found alarming was the removal of protections against abuse for LGBT people.
Meta users will be able to share “claims of mental illness or abnormality based on gender or sexual orientation, in light of political and religious discourses about transgenderism and homosexuality.”
Zuckerberg said this was part of an effort to “remove a lot of restrictions on topics that have nothing to do with mainstream discourse, like immigration and gender.”
