Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview published Monday he has “no deal of any kind” with President Donald Trump on content moderation on the social media giant.
Zuckerberg, in an interview with Axios, rejected the “speculation” that Facebook had an arrangement that gives the president free rein on the platform.
Facebook CEO says idea of any deal with Trump is “ridiculous”
“Let me be clear: There’s no deal of any kind,” Zuckerberg told the news site.
“Actually, the whole idea of a deal is pretty ridiculous.”
Zuckerberg
2016: "I think the idea that fake news on Facebook — of which it’s a very small amount of the content — influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea."2020:
https://t.co/Falr2arbVr— Kontra (@counternotions) July 20, 2020
The comments come with Facebook under intense pressure, and a growing boycott from advertisers, to curb hateful content that may promote violence, including from Trump.
Read more: Facebook deletes Trump’s ad
Facebook’s longstanding policy has been to steer clear of fact-checking political speech but it did take down an ad from the Trump campaign that included a symbol used in Nazi Germany.
“There are a lot of people who’ve said that maybe we’re too sympathetic or too close in some way to the Trump administration,” Zuckerberg said.
Facebook CEO says platform faces sanctions despite discussions with Trump
He noted that despite his discussions with Trump, Facebook has had a number of conflicts with the current administration including attacks on Section 230, which gives online services a liability shield from content posted by third parties.
“Under this administration, we’ve faced record fines of $5 billion, are under antitrust investigation by multiple agencies, and have been targeted by an executive order to strip protections in Section 230,” he said.
Read more: Facebook refuses to remove Trump’s posts despite backlash
He added that “I do speak with the president from time to time, just like I spoke with our last president and political leaders around the world.”
Zuckerberg said he accepted an invitation to a private White House dinner with Trump “because I was in town and he is the president of the United States.”
He pointed out that “I also had multiple meals and meetings with President Obama … both at the White House and outside, including hosting an event for him at Facebook HQ.”
Facebook refuses to remove racist posts despite backlash
Earlier, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg had defended his decision not to interfere with posts by US President Donald Trump, US media reported, after the social media giant’s hands-off policy sparked outrage and prompted some employees to quit.
Social media platforms have faced calls to moderate the president’s comments, most recently because of the unrest gripping America in the wake of an unarmed black man’s death during arrest as a white policeman knelt on his neck.
https://twitter.com/SteveFM20/status/1285321168984010752
The row began when Zuckerberg said Facebook would not remove or flag Trump’s posts that appeared to encourage violence against those protesting police racism, even as the social media titan Twitter put warning labels on some of the president’s tweets over accuracy issues or the glorification of violence.
Read more: Curfew imposed in US cities as protests become unmanageable
Zuckerberg told employees in a video conference on Tuesday he talked to Trump on the phone after the decision, and that he “used that opportunity to make him know I felt this post was inflammatory and harmful, and let him know where we stood on it”, The New York Times reported, citing a recording of the call.
The CEO was referring to a post by the president that said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” — the same comment on Twitter was still visible but behind a warning label.
Facebook’s move prompted intense scrutiny and dissent from employees, and it was a “tough decision” over content that had upset him personally, Zuckerberg told around 25,000 staff who had tuned in, according to the tech website Recode which had obtained a copy of the call.
Facebook changing the standards for Trump?
Zuckerberg had not kept his word about stopping posts that glorify violence, said Timothy Aveni, a software engineer who resigned from the company.
“Facebook will keep moving the goalposts every time Trump escalates, finding excuse after excuse not to act on increasingly dangerous rhetoric,” Aveni wrote on his Facebook page.
Prior to the staff call, civil rights activists had issued scathing criticism of Facebook’s policy.
“We are disappointed and stunned by Mark’s incomprehensible explanations for allowing the Trump posts to remain up,” said a statement from three leaders: Vanita Gupta of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Rashad Robinson of Color of Change.
“He did not demonstrate understanding of historic or modern-day voter suppression and he refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump’s call for violence against protesters. Mark is setting a very dangerous precedent for other voices who would say similar harmful things on Facebook.”
Read more: Facebook removes Trump ads for carrying Nazi symbol
Previously, Facebook was criticised for not removing Trump’s ad, which violated their standards.
Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who worked with Facebook on its census policies, said the social network confirmed the removal of the ads.
“While we’re gratified that Facebook shut down Trump’s attempt to sow confusion about how and when to participate in the 2020 Census, it’s disturbing that the ads weren’t immediately removed,” Gupta said in a statement.
GVS News Desk with additional input by other sources