Mark Zuckerberg follows Elon Musk! will work with Trump
Mark Zuckerberg is putting various regulations into effect before Trump takes office. Zuckerberg will add ‘community notes’ to posts like in X. It is stated that this move is about returning to the company’s ‘roots in freedom of expression’.
“The recent election feels like a cultural turning point to once again prioritize freedom of expression,” Zuckerberg said.
TRUMP PREVIOUSLY DECLARED FACEBOOK AS THE ENEMY OF THE PUBLIC
Trump criticized Facebook as ‘the enemy of the people’ and founded his own network, Truth Social, in 2022 after it was banned from other social media platforms.
Zuckerberg said Meta would work with Trump to push back against countries trying to rein in social media platforms. He also called on Europe to take action against laws that ‘make it harder to build something innovative’.
The European Union’s (EU) Digital Services Act (DSA) requires major tech companies such as Facebook and Instagram to combat illegal content online and take action against disinformation or election manipulation.
META’S CHANGES ARE STILL LIMITED TO THE USA
Changes made to Meta’s fact-checking system are so far limited to the USA.
In his video message, Zuckerberg said Meta will ‘get rid’ of fact-checkers, starting with the US, and replace them with ‘community ratings’ similar to X. Here, users add context to misleading posts and contributors evaluate whether the note was useful.
Meta CEO accused fact-checkers of being ‘too politically biased’ and said they destroy more trust than they create.
IT WILL SIMPLIFY CONTENT POLICIES
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will also simplify its content policies and ‘get rid of a number of restrictions’ on issues such as immigration and gender, Zuckerberg said.
He also added that the company would only focus on ‘illegal and high-serious violations’.
Saying that content filters will also need a higher level of trust before removing posts, Zuckerberg stated that the filters will catch ‘fewer bad things’ but will reduce the accidental removal of posts.
This isn’t the first change Meta has made since Trump’s election. The company earlier this week replaced global affairs chief Nick Clegg with Joel Kaplan, a former staffer of George W. Bush.
*Images of the news were provided by AP.