Mark Zuckerberg is building a new surveillance state
Mark Zuckerberg recently took to Instagram to boast that nearly a billion people now use Meta AI across the company’s platforms. To celebrate, he announced the launch of a new standalone app, encouraging users to “Check it out!” It sounded innocuous, almost charming, as if he were discussing a playful new feature. But make no mistake: this wasn’t just a product release. It was a warning shot from a man who now has his hands firmly on the wheel of reality.
FTC Antitrust Lawsuit Against Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Kicks Off in Washington DC
The FTC’s high-stakes antitrust lawsuit against Meta kicked off today with opening arguments in Washington, DC. Mark Zuckerberg is expected to take the stand to defend his company against the federal government’s claims that the acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp should never have been approved.
Meta Settles Trump Lawsuit for $25 Million over Suspended Accounts After January 6
Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the social-media company after it suspended his Facebook and Instagram accounts following the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.
The settlement marks a major victory for Trump, who previously criticized social-media companies for censoring him four years ago but has lately welcomed their chief executives into his inner circle. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is one such executive who embraced the new administration and even attended Trump’s inauguration.
Meta to fire thousands of staff as Zuckerberg warns of ‘intense year’
Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is to cut about 5% of its global workforce, with its poorest-performing employees most likely to leave.
In a memo to staff, the chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said he had decided to “move out low-performers faster”, ahead of what he said would be an “intense year”, and would be accelerating the company’s usual performance management system.
Bannon: Zuckerberg ‘can’t be trusted’
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President-elect Trump, went after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Monday episode of his “Bannon’s War Room” show.
“Zuckerberg can’t be trusted, at all,” Bannon said on his show, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. “He came in the Oval Office … when I was there … I went absolutely bonkers, but he still got to the Oval Office.”
Biden officials ‘screamed’ and ‘cursed’ at Meta execs to take down vaccine posts, Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg slammed the Biden Administration for censorship, took shots at one of his biggest tech rivals and said he’s “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump during a wide-ranging interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan.
Wearing a brown T-shirt and gold-chain, the suddenly conservative-sounding tech tycoon spent the first hour of the nearly three-hour sit-down discussing the strong-arm tactics Team Biden used to silence those who cast doubt on the COVID vaccine – a topic dear to Rogan’s heart.
Mark Zuckerberg Unloads on Biden White House in Joe Rogan Interview
Mark Zuckerberg unloaded on President Joe Biden and his administration during a surprise appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast that was published Friday.
Zuckerberg attacked the White House over the way senior officials pressured Meta to moderate content on its social media networks, part of a scathing interview just 10 days before Biden is set to leave office.
Zuckerberg calls for "repopulation" of "cultural elite class"
Mark Zuckerberg spent this week reshaping Meta to be more MAGA-friendly, and capped it off Friday by calling for the "repopulation" of the "cultural elite class" on Joe Rogan's podcast.
Why it matters: Over the last few days, Meta has dropped internal DEI guidelines and opened the floodgates for hate speech, racism, and conspiracy theories, but Zuckerberg's comments on Rogan tie him explicitly to right-wing talking points.
Huge problems with axing fact checkers, Meta oversight board says
The co-chair of the independent body that reviews Facebook and Instagram content has said she is "very concerned" about how parent company Meta's decision to ditch fact-checkers will affect minority groups.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, from Meta's oversight board, told the BBC she welcomed aspects of the shake-up, which will see users decide about the accuracy of posts via X-style "community notes".
Muskerberg? Meta copies X approach to free speech as lame-duck feds relaunch misinformation unit
Is Mark Zuckerberg becoming Elon Musk?
The Meta CEO's replacement of its own fact-checkers with a version of Community Notes – name-checking X's crowdsourced fact-checking feature and adopting the same name – marks one of the most stunning practical results of Donald Trump's second election and a blow to efforts by governments and private disinformation cops to pressure platforms to censor.