Word on the street is that Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is looking for an active role under Trump’s incoming administration to help with technology policies. This is coming as the platform openly admits that they’ve been moderating content on their platforms a bit ‘too much.”
Zuckerberg recently met with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The meeting included a little show-off from the Meta boss, where he displayed the new Meta camera-equipped sunglasses.
Perhaps Bill Gates wants a role too?
— Chris Rossini (@ChrisRossini) December 3, 2024
Anyone else?
Pelosi?
Besides being a lobby for some potential benefits for the platform, its fascinating to know that Mark and Trump haven’t really been on good terms for a long time. Remember when Facebook suspended Trump's account following the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021?
BREAKING: Mark Zuckerberg says Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts will remain blocked: "the risks of allowing the president to continue..are simply too great...[and he is suspended] at least for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete." pic.twitter.com/NA7mVv0HuA
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) January 7, 2021
Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, revealed that Zuckerberg is "very keen to play an active role in the debates that any administration needs to have about maintaining America's leadership in the technological sphere."
This move by Zuckerberg appears to mirror the approach of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has already secured a position of influence in Trump's tech policy discussions.
Meta Content Moderation
But while Zuckerberg is cozying up to the incoming administration, Meta is also facing some tough questions about its past content moderation practices. Clegg acknowledged that the company "overdid it a bit" with content moderation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We know that when enforcing our policies, our error rates are too high," Clegg told reporters, admitting that the platform has often mistakenly removed or restricted harmless content. This excessive moderation has led to the unfair penalization of many users and the removal of benign posts across Meta's platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
The overzealous moderation has had wide-ranging impacts. Users have reported widespread disappearance of accounts and posts, particularly on Instagram and Threads. Some have even been locked out of their accounts due to mistaken age restrictions. Even more concerning, posts about current events, including weather alerts, have been deleted or blocked.
Meta's heavy reliance on artificial intelligence for content moderation is partly to blame for these issues. With only a small fraction of moderation receiving human attention, the AI's lack of nuance has led to some inaccurate and even absurd decisions.
In response to these challenges, Meta has pledged to improve its moderation practices. The company aims to enhance the precision and accuracy of rule enforcement, improve policy rollouts, and treat content moderation rules as a "living, breathing document".
This admission of past mistakes seems to be part of a larger strategy to appease Trump and his supporters. Zuckerberg has been making efforts to change his company's perception on the right following their rocky relationship during Trump's previous term.
I don't think Trump will give Mark Zuckerberg a role in his administration. But I do think he'll get all the info he needs on who ordered the censorship of Americans, including himself.
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) December 3, 2024
It's about to get real.
Interestingly, Zuckerberg's stance towards Trump has softened recently. Earlier this year, he praised Trump's response to an assassination attempt, calling it "badass".
This comment, along with Zuckerberg's complaints about the Biden administration pressuring Facebook to censor some COVID-19 content, seems to be part of a calculated effort to curry favor with Trump and his base.
It's worth noting that Meta isn't the only tech giant grappling with content moderation issues. Twitter (now X) has faced similar challenges, with Elon Musk's takeover leading to significant changes in the platform's moderation policies. Google and YouTube have also been criticized for their handling of misinformation and controversial content.
Abimbola Adu
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