A senior Meta official criticized CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to end fact-checking at Facebook, Instagram and Threads — saying the social media mogul was “bowing to political pressure” before President-elect Donald Trump took office.
The comments from Michael McConnell, co-chair of Meta’s Oversight Board, come as Zuckerberg’s sudden pivot to loosen content moderation policies and remove censorship has caused concern among advertisers who fear a resurgence of harmful content and misinformation. .
McConnell expressed concern about the decision, describing it as a potential concession to partisanship.
“I would have liked to have seen these reforms put forward at a less contentious and partisan time so that they could be considered on their merits,” McConnell told National Public Radio on Friday.
He warned that the move could be perceived as Meta “bowing to political pressure” — a reference to Zuckerberg’s efforts to ingratiate himself with Trump.
His comments echoed those made by Meta employees on the company’s internal chat board.
Several other tech titans such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have sought Trump’s ear in recent weeks as he prepares to take the oath of office next Monday.
According to McConnell, neither he nor the board were informed ahead of time of the policy change.
However, sources familiar with the matter told the New York Times that Meta executives allegedly briefed officials from the Trump camp before the public announcement.
The post has requested a comment from Meta.
The oversight board, which was established in May 2020, is a quasi-independent blue-ribbon panel of law, human rights, journalism and technology experts who review content removal decisions and make policy recommendations that relate to the moderation of certain contents.
Meanwhile, the decision to end the platform’s fact-checking program and reduce hate speech restrictions is raising questions about brand safety on the $1.5 trillion tech giant’s platforms, which generate most of annual advertising revenue of $135 billion.
“Some brands will already be evaluating their plans carefully and it will no doubt become a commercial puzzle for both sides,” Fergus McCallum, CEO of advertising agency TBWA\MCR, told the Financial Times.
Risk-averse advertisers are wary of lifting restrictions on politically sensitive topics like immigration and gender.
Lou Paskalis, CEO of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory, told the FT that the change “creates headwinds for marketers”, causing some to “decrease their reliance” on Meta.
While some advertisers remain cautious, others believe that platform performance metrics will ultimately determine their response.
“The cold, hard truth is that advertisers will only care if it hurts their numbers,” Alex Cheeseman, head of enterprise at Outbrain, told the FT.
“If performance remains consistent, no one will lose sleep over where ‘or how’ their ads appear.”
Meta announced on Tuesday that it will drop its fact-checking program, which was introduced to combat the spread of misinformation on its platforms.
Zuckerberg justified the decision as part of a broader strategy to embrace “free speech,” describing the 2024 election as a “cultural tipping point” that demanded change.
“It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Zuckerberg said in his announcement.
He acknowledged that the old policy had led to “a lot of mistakes and a lot of censorship” and that the new approach would rely on users to correct misinformation, similar to X’s “Community Notes” feature.
While acknowledging that the new system would “catch less bad stuff,” Zuckerberg argued that it would also reduce the inadvertent removal of legitimate posts and accounts.
“We will also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally remove,” he said.
Critics, including McConnell, have expressed skepticism about the efficacy of the new approach. “
“I don’t have much faith that this will be the solution. There’s really no magic bullet for this problem,” McConnell said.
He also described the timing of the announcement and its optics as “bad”, suggesting it could be seen as aligning with political agendas.
The decision comes after a series of actions by Zuckerberg that critics have linked to Trump’s influence.
Zuckerberg reportedly dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
Last Monday, Zuckerberg announced the addition of Dana White, a Trump ally, to Meta’s board.
In his interview with Joe Rogan on Friday, Zuckerberg revealed that Biden administration officials pressured Meta to remove posts questioning COVID-19 vaccines. Meta’s boss described heated interactions with White House officials who “screamed” and “cursed” at the company’s executives.
As Meta moves away from fact-checking, questions remain about the platform’s ability to tackle misinformation while fostering free expression.
With the 2024 election cycle already underway, the decision has reignited debates about the role of tech companies in managing political content and the fine line between moderation and censorship.
For now, Meta will rely on its own user base to help report and address misinformation.
#Top #Meta #official #slams #CEO #Mark #Zuckerberg #bowing #political #pressure #lifting #censorship #advertisers #express #concern
Image Source : nypost.com