Tech policy expert Kara Frederick said people should not get “too excited” about the Meta CEO’s public apology for past election-interfering censorship.
Frederick, who directs The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, questioned the sincerity of Zuckerberg's apology for his platforms censoring COVID-19 and election-related posts. She told Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Wednesday that Mark Zuckerberg is “hedging his bets,” adding that It’s still “full steam ahead” for censorship from Meta, Frederick argued.
Varney played a clip of Donald Trump’s VP running mate JD Vance slamming Big Tech censorship. Referring to election-interfering censorship, Varney asked Frederick if it were “too late to do anything about it.” Frederick replied saying that “the damage has been done.” She noted that 29 days prior, “Facebook censored that iconic photo of Trump raising his fist defiantly in the air during his assassination attempt. They labeled it as ‘misinformation.’ So the train is still on the tracks and going full steam ahead.”
She also warned against premature positive reactions to the Meta CEO’s claims that he regrets enforcing censorship at the behest of the federal government. “I caution those who are taking a victory lap for free speech over Zuckerberg’s confession, not to get too excited,” because censorship continues on Meta’s platforms (including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp). In the “background” there’s still “that labeling, that suppression, that de-ranking of content,” Frederick insisted.
Varney asked if the timing of Zuckerberg’s apologetic letter, some 70 days before the election, is “suspect.” Frederick agreed that it was, arguing that the Meta CEO is “quite obviously hedging his bets.” Describing Zuckerberg and his strategy she added, “He is not stupid. He is a sophisticated actor. His own personal instincts are very good.”
Frederick claimed Zuckerberg knows “the Democrats aren't going to touch [him]” because they support censorship, and “establishment Republicans [are] just going to write strongly worded letters” rather than passing laws. She stated that Zuckerberg is “acting like he has some veneer of compunction, but in the end, they're doing what they've done in the first place, censor and suppress and police the speech of Americans.”
Varney closed by asking Frederick whether Americans can expect Meta to make any meaningful changes to its anti-free speech polices. “No,” Frederick answered emphatically. “[A]t the end of the day, Mark Zuckerberg is gonna Mark Zuckerberg, and that means doing things to help the left.” Thus, Americans should be wary of believing in Zuckerberg’s sincerity.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment and provide an equal platform for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
