Sen. Rand Paul told Steve Doocy on Fox and Friends that Meta’s move to enact reforms in favor of free speech may not be entirely motivated by an affinity for free expression and may be a play to appeal to the Federal Trade Commission.
Doocy played a clip of Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Kahn who asserted that Meta’s changes, including replacing its so-called third-party fact-checking program, could indicate its aim for “some type of sweetheart deal” with the FTC. While not agreeing that this is Meta’s only goal, Paul said that it is “probably a little bit of both.” President-elect Donald Trump’s FTC chair pick, Andrew Ferguson, has vowed to “end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech,” which might have played a factor in Meta’s decision.
.@RandPaul on Fox & Friends discusses Meta’s changes pic.twitter.com/6cHkQ1ZFtU
— Catherine Salgado (@CatSalgado32) January 9, 2025
Ultimately, Paul is most concerned about halting government-Big Tech censorship collusion. “What I really don’t like is the government talking with Big Tech and talking with social media and saying, ‘Hey, we want you to take down this person’s opinion on COVID, this person’s opinion on vaccines, this person’s opinion on Hunter Biden’s laptop,’” the senator said. “That’s not a role of government. That’s censorship.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cited the switch in presidential administrations in his announcement as part of the reason for the changes.
When Meta first announced that it plans to lift restrictions on certain topics of online conversation and other changes, Paul was optimistic. “Meta finally admits to censoring speech…what a great birthday present to wake up to and a huge win for free speech,” he posted on X Tuesday.
MRC ranked Meta’s Facebook and Instagram among the worst censors of the year 2024. For instance, Facebook and Instagram both censored the iconic image of Donald Trump after the July assassination attempt, as recorded in the CensorTrack database.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Google, Amazon and TikTok and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “misinformation” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
