Thurber called Zuckerberg’s backstage celebrity approach to lobbying efforts “very dangerous.” ”You’ve got to be very careful about that, if you think you can do it yourself,” he said. “He clearly has taken a stand that’s really quite unpopular.” Facebook says splitting up large tech corporations would make the election system more vulnerable to interference because the companies wouldn’t be able to work together to prevent it.įor Zuckerberg and the Democrats, “it may be a nasty divorce,” said James Thurber, a professor of government at American University who founded its Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who leads the committee, told Zuckerberg, “You have opened up a discussion about whether Facebook should be broken up.”Ī mandated breakup would be the worst-case scenario for Facebook and the other big tech companies.
He’s one of the world’s richest individuals, with a net worth currently estimated at $71 billion. “I’m doing OK,” replied the 35-year-old co-founder, chairman and CEO. It previously had allowed such ads to be targeted to people based on age, sex or race, which is illegal.Īt some points, friendlier Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee asked Zuckerberg how he was holding up through the six-hour hearing. She told Zuckerberg that he had “ruined the lives of many people, discriminated against them.”Īs part of a legal settlement with civil rights groups, Facebook changed its ad-targeting systems this year to prevent discrimination in housing, credit and employment ads. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, the vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, focused on Facebook’s track record on civil rights and diversity. “It is important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying.” Facebook says political advertising accounts for less than half of 1% of its total revenue. “This really is not about money,” Zuckerberg insisted. The next week, during prickly questioning by Democratic lawmakers at a televised House hearing, Zuckerberg dug in on not fact-checking politicians’ speech and the handling of hate speech and potential incitements to violence.
Twitter trump ban then enthuses about free#
Then came Zuckerberg’s speech last month at Georgetown University in which he promoted free expression as the foundation for Facebook’s refusal to take down content it deems newsworthy, even if the material violates company standards. Warren, who has called for breaking up Facebook and other tech giants, acknowledged the ad’s deliberate falsity to make her point. Elizabeth Warren, another top Democratic contender, chose to hit back by running her own ad and making it personal by falsely claiming that Zuckerberg had endorsed Trump for 2020. Facebook, as well as Twitter and Google, refused in September to remove a misleading video ad from Trump’s reelection campaign that targeted top-tier Democratic candidate Joe Biden. The political ad issue hits close to home for Democrats. The company spent an estimated $12.6 million on federal influencing last year. He’s become lobbyist-in-chief for a tech giant that has about 60 people officially playing that role.
Twitter trump ban then enthuses about serial#
His new strategy: a personal blitz featuring serial private meetings in Washington with key lawmakers of both parties and President Donald Trump small, off-the-record dinners at his California home with conservative journalists and opinion makers and the occasional public address or TV interview. But in the face of growing public outrage, the co-founder of the upstart born under the motto “Move fast and break things” is learning the art of smoothing over and piecing back together. Zuckerberg enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Obama administration. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor
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