Mark Zuckerberg on Ridiculous and Crazy Ideas

Mike Allen, writing at Axios today:

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, under fire for allowing President Trump to post inflammatory statements on his platform, tells Axios there’s no truth to whispers that the two have a secret understanding.

Why it matters: Zuckerberg, facing a growing ad boycott from brands that say Facebook hasn’t done enough to curtail hate speech, has become increasingly public in criticizing Trump. “I’ve heard this speculation, too, so let me be clear: There’s no deal of any kind,” Zuckerberg told Axios. “Actually, the whole idea of a deal is pretty ridiculous.”

Zuckerberg in 2016, after Trump’s election:

“Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way — I think is a pretty crazy idea. Voters make decisions based on their lived experience.”

Zuckerberg in 2017:

“After the election, I made a comment that I thought the idea misinformation on Facebook changed the outcome of the election was a crazy idea. Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it.”

Astute point from Tony Romm, on Twitter:

No one said there was a deal. They said Facebook was acting kindly to Trump out of self interest.

There’s a lot of that going around.

★ Monday, 20 July 2020