While Facebook is not wholly without problems in this regard, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a strong stand for free speech and fair treatment of all points of view during an an interview with The Daily Briefing that will air on Thursday. “We have a different policy than, I think, Twitter on this,” said Zuckerberg. He was referring to Twitter censoring and denigrating the president by slapping what are in effect warning labels on his tweets.
“I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online. Private companies probably shouldn’t be, especially these platform companies, shouldn’t be in the position of doing that,” added the Facebook CEO.
The president, after the Twitter action, spoke of possible penalties for Twitter, such as removing their liability immunity. Zuckerberg commented on that as well, saying, “I have to understand what they actually would intend to do. But in general, I think a government choosing to censor a platform because they’re worried about censorship doesn’t exactly strike me as the the right reflex there.”
Zuckerberg is correct on both points. While Facebook has certainly shown bias against conservatives, its actions have been with nowhere near the vehemence or the double standard employed by Twitter. Twitter challenges the president’s assertions but let’s the most vile and non-factual of canards against him stand without comment. The double standard is obvious and renders their weak defense in this regard only another example of their disdain for the intelligence of their own customers.
As such, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded: “We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.”
Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me. Please leave our employees out of this. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
The media arrogance and patronizing tone in Dorsey’s statement is breathtaking. His opinion of what is “incorrect or disputed” is redolent of his bias. Given that the president, and most people who comment on current events, post subjective opinions, then how can an opinion be “incorrect”?
And “disputed”? Especially in this political environment, but naturally as a matter of course, opinions are disputed or else they would be objective fact. Thus Dorsey beats up on straw men and thinks the public is too thick to notice. He adds intellectual insult to injury: “This does not make us an ‘arbiter of truth’. Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.”
If he was telling the truth about “connecting the dots” then he would be consistent and do so for tweets across the political spectrum. But Twitter does not do that. It selectively targets conservatives and Republicans for censure and censorship, while publicly boasting of its power to stifle their comment. Twitter also champions various prog causes to such an extent that it has become less of a social media platform than a left-wing clearinghouse and bulletin board.
The president is not kidding when he states there could be consequences coming unless Twitter does something about its double standards and bias. While no government or government official should ever try to censor social media or the press, there are forms of public pressure that could hit Twitter where it matters most —in the wallet— that may make the social media platform rethink its current policies.
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