Secret deal ‘let Trump lie on Facebook’
LOS ANGELES: Mark Zuckerberg agreed that Facebook would not fact-check political claims posted on its platform in return for pledges from the Trump administration to refrain from imposing onerous regulations on the company, according to a new book.
The social media platform was heavily criticised by Democrats before the 2020 election for insisting that statements by Donald Trump, president at the time, should not be removed or labelled with a disclaimer if they were found to be lies – an approach adopted by Twitter.
It was also blamed for allowing the spread of groups claiming the election was stolen, in the months before proTrump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on January 6.
Now, according to Max Chafkin, author of The Contrarian, a book about Silicon
Valley investor Peter Thiel, Mr Zuckerberg agreed to adopt this hands-off policy during a dinner at the White House in 2019 in return for favourable treatment. Facebook denies the claim.
Mr Thiel is described in the book as a mentor to Mr Zuckerberg. Chafkin writes that Mr Thiel and Mr Zuckerberg had a private dinner with Mr Trump and his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
He says Mr Thiel told a confidante that Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Kushner came to an “understanding” during the meal that “Facebook would continue to avoid factchecking political speech”, allowing Mr Trump to claim whatever he wanted.
In return, the Trump administration promised that it would “lay off any heavyhanded regulations”.