Watching a recent interview with Fox News anchor Dana Perino, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rebuked Twitter for its decision to tag two of President Donald Trump’s tweets about mail-in voting with fact-check links, saying that private companies “shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth.”
RELATED READING: TWITTER CEO JACK DORSEY SAYS FACT CHECK LABEL ON TRUMP’S TWEETS DOESN’T MAKE PLATFORM ‘ARBITER OF TRUTH’
KEY FACTS
“Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,” Zuckerberg said.
Though Facebook takes down ads that discourage people from voting, a Facebook spokesperson said Trump’s tweets, which were also posted as Facebook statuses, did not violate its rules, which “focus on misrepresentations that would interfere with the vote.”
Zuckerberg also said that any attempt by Trump or the federal government to censor social media companies isn’t “the right reflex.”
The full interview will air on Thursday.
Twitter declined to comment.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,” he said. “Private companies probably shouldn’t be, especially these platform companies, shouldn’t be in the position of doing that.”
NEWS PEG
Trump threatened to regulate social media companies on Wednesday after Twitter labeled two of his tweets about mail-in voting with a “fact check,” which said the president falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to a rigged election and widespread fraud, citing the Washington Post and CNN.
Republicans have long claimed that Facebook, based in the liberal stronghold of Silicon Valley, is biased against conservatives, and Twitter’s fact check only intensified that criticism, with Trump tweeting that Twitter was “interfering” in the 2020 election and stifling free speech. Rep.
Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said he is drafting a bill to walk back Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a vital legal shield that prevents tech platforms from being liable for what users post.
