The president of the United States, Joe Biden, this Friday, described the decision of Metaparent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to end its verification program data and adopt a system similar to that of the social network X, in which users judge the veracity of the publications. “I think it’s really shameful,” the president told reporters at the White House.
The president considered that Meta’s decision is “contrary to everything the United States represents.” “We want to tell the truth. We haven’t always done that as a nation, but we want to tell the truth. And the idea that a billionaire can buy something and say that, from now on, we’re not going to verify anything, it’s worrying,” he said. Biden with a critical tone.
Biden was thus referring to the decision made on Tuesday by the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, to eliminate its third-party verification system and adopt a model similar to that used by X, owned by Elon Musk, close to the president-elect, Donald Trump. , who has been very critical of Meta. Zuckerberg justified his decision by pointing out that it was time to prioritize “freedom of expression” and argued that fact checkers had become “politically biased,” a recurring criticism of Trumpwho will take office on January 20. Additionally, Zuckerberg announced the move of Meta’s content moderation team from California, a Democratic state, to Texas, a Republican stronghold, and lifted restrictions on some immigration and gender issues.
In a press conference after the announcement of Meta, Trump took credit for the turnaroundstating that the new approach was “probably” due to the threats he himself directed against Zuckerberg, whom he threatened to imprison after Facebook suspended his account following the assault on the Capitol in 2021.
Zuckerberg has sought a rapprochement with Trump since he won the elections on November 5. Weeks after the elections, both met at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago (Florida). After that meeting, Zuckerberg announced several changes in the company’s management, including the resignation of Nick Clegg, then president of Meta’s Global Affairs and considered his right-hand man.
On Tuesday, Meta also announced the addition of three new members to its board of directors, including Dana White, president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a major figure in Trump’s orbit.
