When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his company’s shameful decision to end fact-checking on its Facebook and Instagram platforms last Tuesday, he defended his decision in a five-minute video, claiming that it represented a return to the company’s “founding values.” In truth, Meta’s bottom line and Zuckerberg’s well-known tendency to accommodate himself to the prevailing political winds are the only values his decision serves.
It will be cheered by authoritarians everywhere and be especially welcome at MAGA headquarters in Mar-a-Lago. An aide to President-elect Trump made that clear when they proclaimed that Zuckerberg is now “speaking Trump's love language.” Not coincidentally, the new Meta policy followed quickly on the heels of Zuckerberg’s powwow with the president-elect the day before he announced the end of fact-checking.
