Is Zuckerberg actually trying to help combat fake news or is he doing what he has always done which is what suits and benefits him especially as the new administration moves into place?
Zuckerberg has been in the news quite recently with him accusing Sandberg of masterminding Facebook diversity push, and with Meta’s CEO saying that too much “feminine energy” is neutering the corporate world.
It has been over a week since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced major changes to what content is allowed on his company’s social media platforms?
The question is, what will this mean for our future?
Mark Zuckerberg has now copied Elon Musk’s decision on “X” platform, doing away with fact-checkers in favour of community notes. However, as time has gone on it is making people wonder if this move is entirely genuine and trying to help remove misinformation or trying to appease Donald Trump who will become the next president of the United States of America in the coming days.
Can we really trust Zuckerberg the question is asked? It can make one wonder if the Republican Party lost the election would he have kept the platform the same?
In a statement released on Tuesday the 7th, Zuckerberg mentioned in his post that the fact-checkers have been too politically biased. He said that the change would prioritise free speech.
“We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platform. We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth.”
This new change will lead users to report false stories and misleading information. However, this has led to more intense debates over the last few days with implications for whether this decision will stop or increase misinformation and hate speech online. With both sides having a different response.
Last year, Trump threatened Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that he could “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he attempted to interfere with the 2024 election.
When Trump was asked about the changes on Facebook and whether Zuckerberg did this because of the threats he made in the past he said “probably”. It does make one wonder if Zuckerberg’s motivations and reasons for doing this are entirely genuine.
Zuckerberg has made plenty of mistakes on his own when it comes to tackling misinformation and silencing people on his platform for his agenda. The Hunter Biden laptop controversy when if users said it was true there have been cases where social media accounts were shut down. A clear way of suppressing somebody else’s view from being expressed.
Over the years many have believed that the news “fact-checking” organisations are opinion organisations of the left. Which creates information conflict on who’s right and who’s wrong.
We can get misled into believing something whether it is right or wrong based on our preferences despite no links or sources to back up “so-called” claims.
The difference between what Democrats and Republicans believe is true or false and how misinformation should be tackled is complex and creates a multitude of issues.
We all know that Meta and other media companies have faced severe political pressure from both sides in the political debate over the last couple of years. Has this created distrust and skepticism on social media platforms?
A study from the Journal of Economic Perspectives, found that both Democrats and Republicans were more likely to believe news headlines that were aligned with their own political views.
Mark Zuckerberg has also announced a partnership with Donald Trump to push the First Amendment rights around the world. Why would he decide to do that now?
The question is who is really benefiting from this? Will this new era tackle the threat of misinformation…
