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Zuckerberg expressed regret for not being more vocal about "government pressure" to censor COVID-19-related content (thehill.com)

submitted 4 months ago by xelar@lemmy.ml to c/world@lemmy.world

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Zuckerberg said senior Biden administration officials "repeatedly pressured" Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to "censor" content in 2021. "I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken," he wrote to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "Like I said to our teams at the time, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction -- and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again," Zuckerberg added.

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[-] shish_mish@lemmy.world 206 points 4 months ago

Asking them to take down stuff that is clearly false and can endanger people is not censorship.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 58 points 4 months ago

not to mention, basically, he's handing the platform to a very vocal minority.

A minority that probably hates his guts. because lets face it, everybody hates Zuck the Cuck

[-] RidcullyTheBrown@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago

A minority that probably hates his guts.

How is this relevant to us? The subject here is about the platform's influence on society, not of Zuckerberg.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

The platform is accommodating people- or trying to, anyhow- that would likely turn on him in a heart beat.

It’s patently stupid to alienate the vast majority of people, who look at antivax as rampant stupidity, to accommodate people who will inevitably prove to be too extreme.

Look at what’s happening on twitter, with advertisers leaving.

That’s about to be Facebook.

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[-] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Unless they can infiltrate his underground bunker in Hawaii, I doubt he cares how much they hate him.

[-] Badeendje@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago

You can also not claim freedom of speech when yelling fire in a crowded Theatre. I don't understand why this is different. In this case the platform is amplifying people yelling fire and even creates spaces for people yelling fire to gather and talk strategy.

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[-] BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 142 points 4 months ago

Zuckerberg thinks Facebook should self regulate and that means in this case be free to allow posts of anti-vax propaganda and covid conspiracy theories that literally cost lives.

This is just a great example of why social media needs external regulation.

[-] HK65@sopuli.xyz 15 points 4 months ago

This is just a great example of why social media needs external regulation.

And "needs external regulation" here just means "needs to not be above the law".

[-] koper@feddit.nl 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

They are not above the law, because these is no law in the US that regulates how social media platforms should be moderated. This is new territory. The EU only recently passed the Digital Services Act that broadly deals with this topic.

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[-] febra@lemmy.world 96 points 4 months ago

Someone's trying to become a right wing grifter.

[-] chaogomu@lemmy.world 39 points 4 months ago

He hired Joel Kaplan over ten years ago.

Kaplan was a Bush toadie who participated in the Brooks Brothers Riot that stopped the recount in Florida in 2000 letting the corrupt jackasses on the Supreme Court to steal the election for Bush.

Kaplan has personally exempted right wing "news" sources from Facebook's truthfulness standards.

[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 82 points 4 months ago

Meta really needs to be split up, along with Google and Microsoft. Nobody can be allowed to have this much influence on public opinion without it going terribly wrong.

[-] RadicallyBland@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago

Everything is owned by like 10 companies. They all need to be busted up.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 52 points 4 months ago

Ah, the "express regret" module was installed yesterday. It's nice to see his upgrades are coming along.

[-] CM400@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

Remember on TNG when Data got his emotion chip? This could get hairy…

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

Which time? When he joined up with his evil brother or when he crashed the Enterprise into a planet?

[-] SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 months ago

Yes!

[-] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 49 points 4 months ago

we should not compromise our content standards

You have to have standards to be able to compromise them.

[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

Like he said: no compromise!

[-] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 47 points 4 months ago

Said the company who deleted a facebook post by Malaysia Prime Minister offering condolences to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which Meta later apologised and restored the post. But sure, lets go ahead and defend misinformation that basically hindering the vaccination effort.

[-] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 40 points 4 months ago

The Meta CEO also said the company “shouldn’t have demoted” a New York Post story about corruption allegations involving President Biden’s family ahead of the 2020 election while waiting for fact-checkers to review it.

The social media company has since updated its policies and processes, including no longer demoting content in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers, he noted.

This seems to be the only concrete thing in here and it seems like a terrible idea to me. No information about what exactly the pressure was from the government or what specific content they took issue with, leaving us all to come up with the guesses that most comfortably confirm our own biases.

[-] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 19 points 4 months ago

Considering Zuck and Meta’s track record so far, I am categorically unwilling to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[-] ____@infosec.pub 38 points 4 months ago

Content? Hardly.

Disinformation. Lies. Etc.

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[-] fluxion@lemmy.world 35 points 4 months ago

The further we go down the misinformation hole the more these guys do their best to make their platforms shitty in the US while they comply with every dictator's political oppression policies outside the US.

[-] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago

The only reason this shitbag's site is still relevant is because it is a boomer propaganda machine

He knows he's complicit in the collapse, and just wants to make enough money to survive the world wide riots that will result. Every decision he makes is to guarantee that goal.

[-] Riccosuave@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

You are exactly correct.

[-] eronth@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago

He seems confident (R) will win the next election. Either presidency or enough of congress.

[-] Asafum@feddit.nl 7 points 4 months ago

He's also trying to help make that happen

[-] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 11 points 4 months ago

I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction – and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again

Well, I did need a good laugh this morning, I just didn't expect it to come from the lies this fucker tells himself so he can ~~recharge~~ sleep at night..

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

Zuckerberg is dangerously stupid.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 months ago

He's dangerously sociopathic.

[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 4 months ago

Shit I didn’t know Zuck was going the Elon Route.

[-] bigFab@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

'They told me to keep it secret, but I regret not talking more about it.' Some things are black or white, don't try to fool us with the 'grey area'. If you didn't outspeak is because your whole purpose was to specifically avoid doing so!

[-] Dorkyd68@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

"I did something shitty and shady and for that I'm truly sorry"

-some shit stain billionaire

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

In this case it's

“I did something shitty and shady and I wish I did more of it”

He's done shit like this before.

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this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024

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