End of fact-checking on Meta social networks, movement of its moderators to Texas, is Mark Zuckerberg the new Elon Musk? In a video published on his social networks, the founder of Meta announced the new line of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, insisting on a “return to basics” prioritizing above all “freedom of expression”. A rhetoric modeled on that of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, owner of X.
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For Nikos Smyrnaois, research professor at the University of Toulouse III and digital specialist, it is obvious that the founder of Facebook has not lost all his values. “We know that he received pressure from Brendan Carr, new chairman of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), asking him to align with Trumpist positions.” What seems to be a personal war by Donald Trump is above all symbolic of a slide towards the extreme right of the whole of Silicon Valley.
Musk and his lookalikes
However, the cradle of tech, like California, is historically democratic, as Nikos Smyrnaois explains: “Silicon Valley was born from a mix between the hippie movement and the appearance of the Internet. Americans more open about morals, but also opposed to state control. Absolute libertarianism, but which can be a leaven for authoritarian libertarianism.” A trend half-heartedly defended by Donald Trump, who has long been hated by the tech world. Only Peter Thiel, founder of Palantir, supported it in 2016.
“It was Elon Musk who made support for Donald Trump mainstream” by massively sharing racist, xenophobic, anti-LGBT theories on his social network X, and by calling for a fight against “wokism”.
Opening the door to other big bosses, Elon Musk is today joined by the majority of Silicon Valley, who publicly and even financially support the new president-elect. Tim Cook, director of Apple, according to the media Axios planned to donate 1 million dollars for the organization of Donald Trump’s inauguration, just like Sam Altman, who directs Open Ai. Companies like Meta, by Mark Zuckerberg, or Amazon, by Jeff Bezos, have also announced similar donations.
More anti-Biden than pro-Trump?
A sudden celebrity that surprises even the person concerned: “During my first term, everyone fought me. Today everyone wants to be my friend. I don’t know, maybe my personality has changed,” he said after his election. What has changed for researcher Nikos Smyrnaios is the context: “Tech did not appreciate Joe Biden’s mandate, which made them understand that their companies had to respect the same rules as others”.
More anti-Biden than pro-Trump Ka Silicon Valley considered the Democratic President as “anti-capitalist” and “anti-progress”, seeking to break the monopolies of these companies on the American market. The Biden government would not have been open enough to the developments of AI AND cryptocurrency, considered by these entrepreneurs as technological revolutions that the United States cannot miss.
So even if these tech moguls are not all Trump’s biggest fans, they preferred to prioritize the freedom promised by the Republican over the conflict promised by the Democrats.
Trump, the former pariah who has become essential
Beyond the ideological shift of some, it is above all an opportunistic turnaround aimed at gaining favor with the future government, in a moment of massive technological expansion. Not being restricted by the government becomes the ultimate goal of these companies and their leaders. “Donald Trump has both the carrot and the stick. On the one hand he threatens those who do not follow him with sanctions, but he promises others new markets, preferential prices, in an industry which depends enormously on federal support.
Today, almost everyone has lined up behind the new president, willingly or by force, which will not be without consequences for American society. “These people control enormous industries,” continues Nikos Smyrnaios, “they are at the heart of the global productive apparatus.”
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“They also control the digital space, and are already using it to promote reactionary content. These bosses are themselves big influencers.” In the looming trade war between the United States and Europe, Donald Trump will be able to count on the biggest American fortunes and their companies.
