It’s a video announcement that surprised everyone. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has decided to completely change the moderation policy of Facebook and Instagram. And it is fiercely reminiscent of the politics of X, the social network controlled by Elon Musk, former worst enemy of Zuckerberg and strong ally of Donald Trump.
Users of the X platform all know that this is a major change. Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg announced in a long video that he would completely change the moderation policy. The official reason? “Returning to the roots” of Facebook “around freedom of expression”. The tech billionaire believes that “governments and traditional media (“legacy media”) pushed for more and more censorship”.
After Trump’s election in 2016, mainstream media wrote relentlessly that disinformation was a threat to democracy. We have tried in good faith to address these concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth. But fact-checkers have simply been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created, especially in the United States
What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to block opinions and exclude people with different ideas. And, it went too far. I want to make sure people can share their beliefs and experiences on our platforms
“We are going to get rid of fact-checkers”
No more “fact-checkers” paid by Meta and often from traditional media. They will be replaced by “Community Notes”similar to those found on X.
For the uninitiated, these “notes” allow the “community of users” to counterbalance a post which could contain misleading, offensive or other elements. The notes most approved by the “community” are then attached to the initial post.
However, it must be said: this is undoubtedly what works best on X, Musk version. The “notes” are generally of quality. They provide enlightening elements while being based on reliable sources. This is the paradox: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk attack “legacy media”, but the latter remain the sources on which users rely as a last resort.
Trump / Zuckerberg: a marriage of convenience
Greater freedom of expression, attacks on legacy media and the introduction of community notes. This is a carbon copy of Elon Musk’s speech at the time of his purchase of the X platform. The billionaire reacted with a simple “good” following Mark Zuckerberg’s video. It must be said that the relationship between these two tech bosses was extremely tense and almost resolved in an MMA hexagon, at a certain time.
Obviously, we can’t help but see a link with the election of Donald Trump. This is even fully assumed by Mark Zuckerbergwhich hopes to find a place in the sun in post-2025 America. “The recent elections seem to be a cultural tipping point once again giving priority to freedom of expression,” he said in his video.
He also named the Republican Joel Kaplan as his public relations manager. And if that wasn’t enough to show off, he just installed Dana White on its board of directors by Meta. This is the big boss of the UFC (the largest MMA league) who was seen numerous times with Donald Trump during the campaign. He too is a supporter of the most total freedom of expression.
Last element which is not misleading: Meta will transfer its “trust and security” teams from California to Texas. To escape the progressive influence of the richest state in the United States. Here again, this is fully assumed by Zuckerberg: “This will help us build the confidence necessary to do the work with less concern about bias present among our teams,” Mark Zuckerberg further insists.”
Silicon Valley in your pocket
In fact, it is a total capitulation of Mark Zuckerberg to the pressure exerted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. During the campaign, the future American president was quite explicit about him: “We have our eye on Mark Zuckerberg. If he does anything illegal, he will spend the rest of his life in prison – like everyone else who interferes with the 2024 presidential election.” In the meantime, the two men had become closer, notably during a visit to Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect’s residence, in Palm Beach, Florida, where Zuckerberg had given his famous smart glasses to the Republican.
The boss of Tesla is in any case delighted with his choice to support Donald Trump, his fortune having almost doubled to reach 420 billion dollars. The opposite is undoubtedly also true: no one will ever know if Donald Trump would have been elected without the support of Elon Musk.
The second richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos has been changing for some time. Like the others, he was entitled to his obligatory visit to Mar-a-Lago. It was shortly before Christmas. And like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, the Amazon boss signed a check to finance Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on January 20.
Remember that, during the campaign, Jeff Bezos had an editorial banned from Washington Post – newspaper he owns – which supported the candidacy of Kamal Harris. The daily thus broke with a questionable tradition of the American media, which can position itself for one or the other candidate just before the presidential elections.
The EU in the viewfinder
This alliance of circumstance between the Republican candidate and Silicon Valley – in which we also find the boss of Apple, Tim Cook, or the boss of Open Ai, Sam Altman – is undoubtedly not very good news for regulation.made in Europe.”
THE tech giants are tired of the European Union’s monster fines towards them. In his diatribe, Mark Zuckerberg clearly insinuated that this regulation went too far.
Elon Musk, for that matter, is at open war with Thierry Breton, the former commissioner in charge of the Internal Market. We know how badly he thinks about European institutions. His positions and political interference in Germany and the United Kingdom are now daily occurrences.
Donald Trump, who has his sights set on Greenland, openly threatens Denmark. All of Europe can also fear its economic war of customs duties. The world as we know it is changing before our eyes.
