Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
A guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world.
Meta has previously been cited by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an overture to President Donald Trump seeking an “active role” in shaping tech policy discussions with the incoming U.S. administration. He admitted that he had been too heavy-handed when it came to moderating certain content.
Sir Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of international affairs, said the social media platform had previously “gone a little too far” in moderating content related to the pandemic, a move that comes after the company has repeatedly accused the company of censorship and censorship. This appears to be a concession aimed at placating the president. Silence conservative speech.
Mr. Clegg’s comments come as Silicon Valley leaders scramble to curry favor with Mr. Trump, who has previously provided funding to his opponents and He has repeatedly clashed with what he considers a left-leaning constituency that has censored the United States.
In a briefing with reporters, Clegg said Zuckerberg is keen to play an “active role in the discussions that every administration needs to maintain American leadership in technology.”
That leadership is “critical given all the geopolitical uncertainties around the world, especially given the pivotal role that AI (artificial intelligence) will play,” he added.
Mr. Zuckerberg, who is pouring money into AI as Meta races to become a leader in the field, dined with Mr. Trump last week at his Florida mansion in Mar-a-Lago. Mehta said Zuckerberg was “grateful” for the invitation, adding: “This is an important time for the future of American innovation.”
Leaders of top technology groups have been rushing to build relationships with President Trump since his decisive victory in last month’s election. Many are facing significant regulatory scrutiny and antitrust threats as part of a crackdown by Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
Meta will have to navigate an increasingly complex political landscape. Billionaire Elon Musk, who runs rival social media platform
President Trump previously said he would not ban TikTok when he returned to the White House and would consider reviewing regulations on social media moderation to maintain “competition” in a meth-dominated market.
Recommended
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg said he wanted to remain neutral during this U.S. election cycle and reduced political content across Meta’s platform as part of an effort to avoid getting drawn into partisan fights.
But in August, he sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, accusing the Biden administration of pressuring Mehta to “censor” certain COVID-19 content during the pandemic, including some This shocked Democratic lawmakers and internal staff.
Clegg said the platform has been focused on reducing the prevalence of harmful content, but Zuckerberg said he is “continuing to redouble efforts to improve the accuracy and accuracy of our rules-based actions.” “areas that focus on the field”, he said.
He added: “We want to make sure our users have a rightful voice, saying that we sometimes over-enforce, sometimes make mistakes, and sometimes remove or limit benign or innocuous content.” “I am acutely aware of the fact that people have raised their complaints about this,” he added.
