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This week, Mark Zuckerberg sent a letter to Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan outlining how the Biden administration is pressuring his company to “censor” free speech on Facebook — specifically misinformation about Covid-19. The letter also mentioned Hunter Biden’s laptop and Zuckerberg’s plans not to spend money on the election. It sounds bad. But none of this information is new.
It’s interesting that Zuckerberg decided to delve into the free speech discussion this week. It’s also not surprising that Republicans have been Banned books In schools across the country, they are passing off old facts as new discoveries and accusing Democrats of censorship. It’s election season, and questioning reality is part of the fun.
There are only two months left until the election. Reduce protection against false information By posting on major social media platforms and writing letters about the Biden administration and censorship, Zuckerberg appears to be throwing a political grenade at Republicans, which could anger them and use it to anger Democrats. But in reality, Zuckerberg may just be trying to keep his company out of more trouble and Continue to reshape your public image.
To understand why Zuckerberg’s letter had such an effect, it’s important to first know why he sent it to Congressman Jordan.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jordan Pick out Meta’s CEO is the subject of an ongoing investigation that accuses the Biden administration and tech companies of conspiring to censor free speech online. Jordan even Under threat Zuckerberg is being held in contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena. Zuckerberg seems to be speaking out pretty clearly now.
exist His LetterZuckerberg acknowledged that the Biden administration pressured the company to “censor certain COVID-19-related content, including humor and satire,” and said the pressure was “wrong.” Zuckerberg also said his company is “ready to fight back” if a similar incident happens again.
This isn’t news. The Biden administration has indeed pressured Meta and its competitors to combat coronavirus misinformation throughout the pandemic. In 2021, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Calling it an “urgent threat,” Biden himself said that false information is “killing people.” He later retracted that statement.This pressure was also at the heart of a recent Supreme Court case in which Justice Ruling in favor of Biden administration.
We also know that Meta (then known as Facebook) resisted efforts to stop the spread of false information on its platform. Shortly after Biden made his “kill people” comment, leaked company documents revealed that Revealed Facebook knows Vaccine misinformation on its platform is undermining its goal of protecting the vaccine rollout and is causing harm. It even looked into the broader problem and produced several internal reports on the spread of misinformation, but despite pressure from Congress, Facebook Failure to share the research with lawmakers then.
We actually learned about the specific pressure the White House was putting on Facebook a year ago. Thanks to the file As you might guess, the company handed over power to Jim Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee.
The Biden administration subsequently issued a statement Zuckerberg’s latest letter Public statement. The statement said in part: “Our position is clear and consistent: We believe technology companies and other private enterprises should consider the impact of their actions on the American people and make independent choices about the information they provide.”
But Zuckerberg’s letter didn’t stop at the well-known details of combating coronavirus misinformation. It also reminded the public that the Biden administration had asked social media companies to slow down the spread of a New York Post article about Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election. Zuckerberg did not mention any direct pressure from the government in his letter, but said his company The story of a downgraded laptop He Telling podcaster Joe Rogan something similar in a 2022 interviewWhen he mentioned FBI Error Message Warning Twitter also suppressed the laptop report, with its executives Deny the pressure Democrats or law enforcement could do that.
Zuckerberg also talked about some of the donations he has made through his family’s charitable foundation to voting rights efforts in the 2020 election. “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role in one way or another – or even appear to play a role,” the billionaire said. “So I’m not planning on making similar contributions this cycle.” Respond in a tweet“Mark Zuckerberg also told the Judiciary Committee that he would not spend money this election cycle. That’s right, there will be no more ZuckerbergCoin.” Neither party mentioned Zuckerberg Also refused to contribute in the 2022 cycle For the same reason.
The right was delighted by Zuckerberg’s letter. Others wondered why, during an otherwise quiet week in August, Zuckerberg would bother reminding us of facts we all know.
There is a theory By Peter Kafka, Business Insider: “Zuckerberg was careful to give Jordan just enough money to pull off a political victory — but without getting Meta into any further trouble while it fought a federal antitrust lawsuit.”
To be clear, Congress was not behind this antitrust lawsuit. The case dates back to 2021 and was brought by the Federal Trade Commission and 40 states, who said Facebook Illegal suppression of competition This was certainly at the forefront of Zuckerberg’s mind when he acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. In a landmark antitrust case less than a month ago, a federal judge ruled that Google loses the caseAnd called it a monopoly. So Zuckerberg almost certainly thought about antitrust issues.
It’s also possible that Zuckerberg is simply tired of the litigation that occurred years ago and wants to put an end to something that has caused his company so much pain. In addition, the censorship allegations are also a distraction from his recent major mission: Building General Artificial Intelligence.
In his new style, Zuckerberg is The newest members of Generation ZAs far as we know, the hastily written, seemingly controversial letter to Congress was part of his image restoration and a reminder to the world that he I don’t want to get involved in politics anymore.
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