Outgoing President Joe Biden criticized Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday for halting its fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram, calling the move “shameful” and a threat to America’s commitment to truth-telling.
In response to a reporter’s question, Biden said he believed the American people “want to tell the truth.” He told reporters he was concerned “billionaires can buy stuff, and by the way, from now on, we’re not going to fact-check anything,” according to The New York Times.
He emphasized his displeasure, saying: “You know, when you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff, no matter what, I think it’s really shameful.”
Earlier, Zuckerberg spoke for the first time about the decision to shut down the third-party fact-checking program, describing it as a “1984 thing,” referring to dystopian novels, and a “slippery slope.”
Appearing on the Joe Rogan Podcast, Zuckerberg accused the Joe Biden administration of pressuring them to “censor truthful information” on his platform.
Zuckerberg said: “These people in the Biden administration will call our team and scream and curse at them as if these documents are there.” Joe Rogan sighed and asked if he had these calls record. Zuckerberg said some of the emails have been made public.
Meta’s CEO later stated that they refused to remove the real content from the platform. “They wanted us to remove this meme of Leonardo DiCaprio watching TV,” Zuckerberg said, adding that Meta had refused to remove memes and satire during the coronavirus pandemic. Zuckerberg said that’s when Biden made a statement saying “these guys (Mehta) are killing people,” after which various agencies began pursuing Mehta.
The president discussed various aspects of his policy achievements during an economic briefing that turned into a lengthy question-and-answer session as his term neared its end.
Regarding potential preemptive pardons for individuals facing Trump’s threats of retaliation, Biden said his decision would be influenced by the president-elect’s statements and actions ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration.
“It depends on some of the rhetoric that Trump has had on the air over the last few days here and the expectations of what he’s going to do,” Biden said.
“The idea that he would punish people who don’t comply with policies that he believes should be relevant to his well-being is outrageous. But still some people were considered, but no decision was made,” he added.
Asked if he had any regrets about his decision to run for re-election, Biden expressed confidence that both he and Vice President Kamala Harris would prevail.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“I think I would have defeated Trump, could have defeated Trump. I think Kamala could have defeated Trump, could have defeated Trump,” the president said.
He continued: “When the party was worried about whether I would be able to move, I thought, although I thought I could win again, I thought Fine Gael would be better off.”
