Outgoing President Joe Biden on Friday criticised Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for discontinuing fact-checking programs on Facebook and Instagram, calling the move “shameful” and a threat to America’s commitment to telling the truth.
Biden, responding to a reporter’s question, expressed his belief that the American people “want to tell the truth.” He told the reporters he was concerned about “the idea that, you know, a billionaire can buy something, and say, by the way, from this point on, we’re not going to fact-check anything, The New York Times reported.
He emphasised his disapproval, stating, “And you know, when you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff, it is — anyway, I think it’s — I think it’s really shameful.”
Earlier, Zuckerberg addressed the decision to shut down the third-party fact-checking program for the first time, describing it as “something out of 1984,” referring to the dystopian novel, and a “slippery slope.”
Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg blamed the Joe Biden administration for pressuring them to “censor true information” on his platforms.
“These people from the Biden administration would call up our team and scream at them and curse and it’s like these documents are all kind of there,” Zuckerberg said. Joe Rogan sighed and asked whether he had any records of those calls. Zuckerberg said there are emails which are all published.
The Meta CEO then said it reached a point where they refused to take down things from their platform which were true. “They wanted us to take down this meme on Leonardo DiCaprio looking at a TV,” Zuckerberg said adding that Meta refused to take down memes, and satire during the Covid. It was around that time that Biden gave a statement saying that ‘these guys (Meta) are killing people’ and after that, all sorts of agencies started coming after Meta, Zuckerberg said.
The President discussed various aspects of his policy accomplishments during an economic briefing that turned into a lengthy question-and-answer session, as his term nears its end.
Regarding potential pre-emptive pardons for individuals facing Trump’s threatened retaliation, Biden indicated his decisions would be influenced by the president-elect’s statements and actions leading up to the January 20 inauguration.
“It depends on some of the language and expectations that Trump broadcasts in the last couple days here as to what he’s going to do,” Biden said.
“The idea that he would punish people for not adhering to what he thinks should be policies related to his well-being is outrageous. But there’s still consideration of some folks, but nothing no decision,” he added.
When questioned about any regrets regarding his re-election campaign decision, Biden expressed confidence that both he and Vice President Kamala Harris would have secured victory.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“I think I would have beaten Trump, could have beaten Trump. And I think that Kamala could have beaten Trump, would have beaten Trump,” the President said.
He continued: “When the party was worried about whether or not I was going to be able to move, I thought, even though I thought I could win again, I thought it was better to unify the party.”