I’m at @GUPolitics to watch Mark Zuckerberg opine about “free expression” by answering prescreened questions before a tightly controlled audience. Somehow doubt he’ll get to why Facebook is crippling the news industry by stripping all our revenue #savejournalism
If you’d like to see some of the proposals @savethenews has come up with to fix this problem, we’ve put them on our site savejournalism.org/2019/10/09/sav…
But TLDR Google and Facebook need to have their monopolies broken up so news orgs start getting their fair share of ad revenues
Zuckerberg claims he’s focused on building a platform to “give people a voice and bring people together,” which utterly white washes his “profits above the common good” approach and the unmeasurable damage his greed has done to the news business
People “often use their voices to call for change” says the powerful billionaire who won’t take unscreened questions which, you know, may call for change.
It’s actually interesting that Zuckerberg is tying Facebook to legal 1st amendment protections, since he’s resisted being considered a news outlet and fights tooth and nail the idea Facebook has some responsibility to limit people yelling fire in the proverbial theater
Zuckerberg says pornography shouldn’t be on Facebook because it makes a lot of users uncomfortable. Which, fair enough. But I’d imagine racist shit makes, oh say, all the POC Facebook users uncomfortable too.
Wow. Zuckerberg just said the only issue with the Russian electioneering was JUST a matter of fake accounts, and not purposefully spreading false information designed to undermine our democratic processes. Which is pretty much insane
Zuckerberg is pretty adept at setting simple minded strawmen and knocking them down. “Our critics want us to ban fiction! Parables! Old yarns! Well I respectfully disagree.”
So far Zuckerberg has completely ignored how his company and Google have helped create news deserts and mass layoffs in the media, which creates these spaces for bad actors to push false information into the public sphere ON HIS PLATFORM and to his personal profit.
Zuckerberg says he’s creating an “independent” advisory board he will appoint to oversee his monopoly. It’ll be very independent. He’ll make sure of it. And definitely way better than Congress or the Fed gov’t stepping in and regulating them. Definitely. He promises.
Another classic Zuckerberg strawman “my critics want to silence individual voices for change” which literally is a fiction but a great way to cast anyone who thinks your for profit mega-corporation that has siezed the public square - and monetized it - is dangerously unregulated
Happy to see that @GUPolitics isn’t pulling punches and @MoElleithee going straight a question on Facebook’s direct role in ethnic cleansing campaigns.
Zuckerberg is raising the legitimate concern about giving countries like China the ability to gain access to their citizens’ data. ON THE OTHER HAND, Facebook is actively pursuing policies in this country to consolidate access and control of you data in his hands. So.
At some point Zuckerberg, and frankly we as a society, need to grapple with the reality that he is in many ways the dictator of an immensely powerful nation state, which can literally cripple other industries, shape elections, and cause genocide.
Christ Zuckerberg keeps going to the well with this “I want people to have freedom of speech, sorry you don’t” bullshit. A sure sign he doesn’t want to answer for the actual criticisms being leveled against him
While I have your attention, please give to our Freelancer Kickstarter! We’re raising money to fund reporters to investigate Big Tech’s effect on the news business and the importance of independent newsrooms in our communities kickstarter.com/projects/savej…
Asked about breaking up his monopoly Zuckerberg says - and I know you’ll be shocked - says he’s opposed. Because his monopoly is a very good monopoly that is the best thing for all of us.
Hilariously, Zuckberg dings Congress for not taking quick action to regulate his company, neglecting to mention the literal army of lobbyists he employs to keep Congress from taking quick action to regulate his company.
Well that was a lot of bullshit
