Social media firms shouldn't be 'arbiters of truth', says Facebook's Zuckerberg

Published May 28, 2020

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Washington - Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg says the major

social media companies should not position themselves as the

gatekeepers of political speech online, as US President Donald Trump

is threatening to regulate the firms.

The pronouncement seems to create a clear distinction between

Facebook and Twitter, after the latter company fact-checked Trump

this week and earned the president's ire.

"I don't think Facebook, or internet platforms in general, should be

arbiters of truth," Zuckerberg said in an interview that aired

Thursday on CNBC, a cable news channel, calling this a "dangerous

line." 

Trump will issue an executive order later Thursday on social media

companies, the White House said.

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump's tweets. "I don't think that Facebook or Internet platforms in general should be arbiters of truth." pic.twitter.com/tFP6iIIMEx

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC)

The New York Times reported that the order could erode protections

for those firms in terms of liability for content posted on their

platforms.

However, in the short run, the order may stop at calling for federal

agencies to better explain protections and set up working groups

within the judiciary, limiting any serious changes to how social

media giants conduct business.

"This will be a Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS!" Trump said

on Twitter, hyping his own order.

Trump erupted in anger this week at Twitter after that platform

attached a fact check to one of the president's posts opposing

mail-in ballots.

The fact check indicated the president was making false claims that

voting by post would lead to mass fraud, amid a fight between

Democrats and Trump over expanding people's ability to cast their

ballots in this election year amid a pandemic.

Twitter chief Jack Dorsey explained the tweet may have mislead voters

into thinking they do not need to register for a ballot, indicating

this was a particular category of concern as it could harm people's

ability to cast a vote.

Fact-checking "does not make us an 'arbiter of truth,'" Dorsey said.

"Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and

show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves."

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/yoyoel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@yoyoel

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

Using his Twitter soapbox, where he has more than 80 million

followers, Trump alleged conservative voices were being silenced by

online platforms and, if that continued, threatened to "strongly

regulate, or close them down."

Zuckerberg said that while Facebook does not want to be "determining

what is true or false," the company does have limits, including false

medical information, voter suppression or hoaxes.

"There are lines, and we will enforce them," Zuckerberg said.

"But, I think, in general, you want to give as wide a voice as

possible, and give particular deference to political speech."

In a separate interview with Fox, another cable channel, Zuckerberg

said Facebook was determined to "give people a voice" and indicated

he would also be opposed to government restrictions on free speech

"I'll have to understand what they actually would intend to do, but,

in general, I think a government choosing to censor a platform

because they're worried about censorship doesn't exactly strike me as

the right reflex there," the Facebook founder said.

dpa

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