Facebook Chooses Trump Over Truth

[@BlueBeetle1939]

I cant believe a billionaire oligarch would side with another billionaire ologarch over actual human beings!?

[@RockonRain22]

😱😱😱

[@PostprandialTorpor]

“We’ve decided it would be financially lucrative to be a propaganda outlet now”

[@elaine_of_shalott6587]

Honestly I think it has at least as much to do with ego. He made a token effort at fact checking and the democrats treated it as something he should have done all along instead of falling at his feet and worshipping him the way the Elon stans do and that made him angry.

[@USUE_Collxn]

It's all about the bottom line. $$

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

I'll be honest my first thought was "Facebook did fact checking?".

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Same all I heard it a right wing haven before Elon turn Twitter into one that more in your face and the CEO pushing it

[@edwardzignot2681]

Facebook is responsible for radicalizing millions. It's like they decided to stop pretending to gaf about how much misinformation FB propagates. It's like hell had a one air conditioner they just decided to shut off. It's already hell! What good was that one AC unit?

[@dltn42]

Exactly 😂 Nowadays the platform has only AI crap 😂

[@alexleghan8406]

I had no idea either. I thought they were a right wing propagandist site.

[@SharienGaming]

@@dltn42 and racist grandpas

[@elaine_of_shalott6587]

It's been enlightening how much of politics is built around the fragile egos of billionaire men.

[@Cyberlisk]

If fact checking is "politically biased", then there might be something wrong with one of the political sides, in the literal sense.

[@sujimtangerines]

"Back to our roots?" Really?? So, FB is gonna be a Hot or Not college co-ed judging app?

[@susanscott8653]

You read my mind. 😎

[@Tom-bp6no]

That’s what they turned Instagram into.

[@CAPSLOCKPUNDIT]

Kind of. In the reboot, you assign a number rating by counting fingers.

[@ReaderInSeattle]

I think the incoming president would love making that a part of his official daily duties.

[@Alister222222]

God it's so refreshing to just sit and listen to a sane person for 20 minutes - thanks Steve. We live in utterly insane times.

[@gonzoengineering4894]

Luigi's Mansion needs more sequels

[@Tuaron]

I shouldn't be surprised, but watching the speed with which billionaires and major media are bending the knee to Trump really signals that anyone who thought "Trump's 1st term wasn't so bad, so the next won't be, either" is incredibly wrong. We are heading into a term where the various mechanisms to hold him to account, inform people about his actions, and simply vent some frustration are being shut down or subverted. This will be a rough period, and I wish I could say I expect it will only be 4 years.

[@tymmezinni]

Neither side is really losing ground, it's just furthering the schism that already existed. Twitter has an obvious "type" and if you're opposed to it, you eventually get tired of your arguments falling on deaf ears and move to, e.g., Bluesky. This isn't anything new for Facebook- people have recognized this and been migrating to other platforms for years already.

[@cardboard87]

Geez, it really hadn't set in for me just how fast this is all happening. We still have 11 more days until this dude is sworn in, and the line of people licking his boots continues to get longer.

[@21forevergone]

I wish people understood that free speech doesn't mean you can say anything without punishment; it means that the GOVERNMENT can't punish you, but what other people, companies, and private entities choose to do in response is their perogative

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

It's freedom of expression, not freedom from consequenses.

[@farrahupson]

@@thing_under_the_stairs The First Amendment protects you from the government, not from private entities. If a (private) social media site wants to limit your expression, they aren't violating the First Amendment.

[@GoronCityOfficialBoneyard]

Billionaires supporting billionaires telling everyone else it's for their good while all of us lose

[@gabrielmaroto18]

I had to tell someone freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences of speech. Where did the confusion come from? The billionaire that own the News 🧐

[@OpinionVille]

Also. He saw how well embracing "free expression" went for twitter. He saw the mass exodus from twitter after the changes were made. He saw advertisers leave titter and their profitability fall. He saw all of that and said "Sign me up!"

[@dawn4383]

The intent is kissing the ring, so to speak. "Far Right folks are allowed to break the rules", pretty

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Yup and people are still leaving Twitter to bluesky that in beta testing and now they added trending XD

[@sandrinowitschM]

But when all the platforms are going this way, advertisers won't have much of a choice will they? There's blue sky but who's willing to bet that they're not going to break as well? KZbin is already overrun with bots and trolls as well as "conservative" "content" creators. Let's not talk about TikTok. Profanity is the least of all their problems. I'm not having much hope for the immediate future right now.

[@Cyberlisk]

@@sandrinowitschM Bluesky is built in a way that you can take your account and followers to another platform should Bluesky itself be compromised.

[@Tuaron]

Well, Meta is testing AI bot accounts on Facebook and Instagram now, so it may become hard for outsiders to tell true user counts.

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

You can't be free without access to accurate information. If you let people lie to you you also let them control your behaviour.

[@menotyou8369]

Unfortunately Americans love being lied to so much they're willing to pay for it.

[@tymmezinni]

It's like that statistic where 80+% of drivers think they're better than average; many dumb people think they are smarter than they actually are and think they can spot the lies, while the reality is that they're being manipulated.

[@thomasderosso5625]

They tried to make the Mark Z look more human with a new wig and casual clothing, but they failed to fix the dead, soulless eyes.

[@Ian_sothejokeworks]

"We want to stop making mistakes. So, we're going to run things more like X does!" Mark, is being a little more rich worth looking a lot more stupid? Take a good look at the public image of Elon. Now, understand that he was starting from a position of _popularity_ with the people you now court, a position you do not enjoy. I hope it's worth it! Now, excuse me, I have to shut down my Facebook.

[@stephanier.tinney343]

🤡💩👹💩👹🤡 Good point...

[@PanzerHyena]

I love the internet, but I'm one of the first people to say that letting it be developed by corporations with no restrictions was the dumbest fucking way they could have made it.

[@dianne5086]

FB can do whatever it wants without me.

[@adopequeenatyrantkingaboss8057]

Gave it up years ago. I never fit in there. Too liberal and too honest for the red state rubes I live among.

[@dankomancer]

I want to delete my account as i havent used it in 10 years, but I don't want to go anywhere near the domain. Not like deleting my account will remove my information they already have.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

I deleted my account the day they allowed Trump back on. I just reviewed my blocklist (which also includes a DNS black hole), facebook, instagram, and twitter are on it. None of those sites can be accessed from my network.

[@sunshine3914]

@@StormsparkPegasus Wasn’t aware fb ever got rid of him. I knew twitter had, then X-crement reinstated him.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@sunshine3914 Facebook reinstated him around 2 years ago? I can't remember exactly when. The day it happened, I went to the site, deleted my account, and blocked the site from my network and devices. I just verified I have both facebook and instagram blocked. And I've been warning people to not buy the former Occulus devices for awhile now, they are a scam. If you want a VR headset, Valve Index or HTC Vive.

[@gostchiken]

That was them fact checking? Shit's about to get WILD!

[@Savannah_Simpson]

You make it sound like a fun game and not the internet continuing to get more and more useless.

[@Pickn4Gold]

​@@Savannah_Simpson sometimes nervous jokes are all people have to deal with reality, the next 4 years are going to suck and its likely to impact us for the rest of our lives.

[@jecicox7605]

I had a whole paragraph of thoughts, but I decided to summarize it all up in 2 short sentences: Nothing is sacred anymore save the Almighty Dollar. Welcome to 1930s Europe, New World edition.

[@brendanreeves6785]

I few weeks ago on FB I re-posted a picture of Linus from Peanuts saying , "if it can be destroyed by the truth then it deserves to be destroyed by the Truth," Meta put a warning on it and threatened to throttle my account for false information. The false information you ask? That Carl Sagan never said this phrase. Where exactly was the attribution to Carl Sagan? I appealed and was told it had already been appealed and denied. I was able to re-post it last night with no modification but WTF?

[@sunshine3914]

I posted to fb twice last year (2 cat pics). 3 months later I got a notification saying they had removed my post bc it violated their guidelines. Neither were removed. Made me think of Hitchens: “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismiss without evidence.”

[@austin.luther]

My account was put on suspension. I have no idea why. I was looking at violins on FB marketplace. I hadn't posted anything except inquiries about various instruments.

[@dono42]

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." This is just the start.

[@fitzcorraldo8570]

Stopped using facebook years ago after the Cambridge Analytica incident. There are no surprises here.

[@willguggn2]

I kept using fb for events and such until C struck and the crazies were let loose virtually everywhere.

[@Pickn4Gold]

Why anyone kept using it after that Cambridge Analytica scandal is beyond me...

[@tdb922f]

Inauguration fund??? WTF? From outside the US looking in, how is that not just a bribe? Seriously.

[@kendallsmith1458]

Bribery you say? NO NO they're just gifts! Ask our Supreme Court.

[@MyMagnificentOctopus]

The Supreme Court has decided "gratuities" are legal unlike nasty "bribes" (which apparently no longer exist).

[@virtus3187]

'inauguration funds' are a common way that president-elects circumvent campaign finance laws. so yeah, it's literally just the trump administration trying to get more money. nothing new here. 😂

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

Me: "Wow, X (Formally know as Twitter) has really gone to shit eh?" Facebook: "Hold my beer" Since people can also create and pages and organize events, I'm sure that Facebook won't become a hive for countless amounts of hate groups.

[@sunshine3914]

* X-crement

[@jacobhholt]

Censoring in social media started during the first Ad-pocalyse when the public noticed on KZbin Ads were playing along questionable/unethical media. So companies withdrew their ad revenue to avoid ethical disputes with the public until content was monitored and safe for advertisers. Sounds like an unwinding like this with Facebook is just setting themselves up for companies to remind Facebook who they serve, not the public but Advertisers, right?

[@VitriolicVermillion]

The platforms in question are now explicitly unsafe. Go to alternatives, ideally federated ones, ASAP.

[@OpinionVille]

Free expression...except nudity, right? Except content unsafe for children, right? Except criticism against your sponsors, right?

[@LeDoucheBouche]

Making sure something is correct is not censorship.

[@GwydionFrost]

So my takeaway is that it is now okay to call fascist people mentally ill on Facebook. In fact, seems to be encouraged. 😏 I also note there seems to be this blurring on the definition of what "freedom of expression" means. There's a huge difference between an individual's lone low-information opinion and an organized and well funded disinformation campaign.

[@aetherkid]

Nope. That is actually explicitly called out as wrong. Only LGBT people are exempt from the harassment and abuse rules specifically. It's incredibly fucked up.

[@timmylean]

We're not trapped in the Matrix, we're trapped in Ursula K Le Guin's "Lathe of Heaven," but the dreamer is my idiot, racist cousin. Or that same cousin got a hold of a right wing monkey's paw and instead of the wishes hurting the user, it hurts society as a whole.

[@dakotak4362]

Steve, love hearing your thoughts. Helps to hear someone else say the same things I think and say.

[@stephanier.tinney343]

I know! I fangirl Steve. I love his language usage.

[@angrach6569]

I guess billions of Dollars are not enough to buy a spine

[@euansmith3699]

Zuck's new hi-tech robo-noodle-spine is much more flexible than his old bone one.

[@JosephBishop-g3t]

Nor a well-fitting t-shirt

[@buddypvaz124]

I have never been on Facebook. I have never been on any of the others except to add a number to Bluesky. If only using social media was not mandated by law with strict penalties for failing to use these platforms, we could just all quit using every one of them and they would be out of business within 90 days. Our society would be saved and the jackals who own the cesspits would no longer have any control over us. If only.

[@stephanier.tinney343]

I envy your free spiritness . Are you a witch? I just saw social dilemma and was mouth agape the entire show.

[@dayegilharno4988]

Adding a number to Bluesky is self defence at this point, even if someone doesn't use social media at all...

[@buddypvaz124]

​@@dayegilharno4988I did it to stick it to Musk I've never used it.

[@peterbrazukas7771]

Why do Zuck's eyes look like he's been making weekend visits to Arrakis?

[@pandora8610]

I left Facebook in 2017, when I was told that a comment I'd reported was fine actually, and didn't break their "community guidelines". It explicitly threatened horrific violence against a transgender teenager. Using a chainsaw. If that was acceptable when they pretended to be egalitarian, I shudder to think what will pass now that the guidelines have been revised to explicitly spell out who should be targeted (and big shock, it's vulnerable minorities!), and recommend how.

[@disky01]

Zucc cosplaying Ice Cube is the funniest shit I've ever seen, though.

[@stephanier.tinney343]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@sharimeline3077]

Welp. I've had an active facebook account going on 20 years or so. I live nowhere near my family and have many international friends, and that's how I keep in touch with all of them. But I just can't support any of this. I have looked the other way for a long time.

[@ReaderInSeattle]

That's how I'm feeling right now too. It's been my best way to keep in touch with a lot of people, and we've been mostly able to speak honestly and critically about things going on in the world. That might be over very soon and it sucks.

[@mooniejohnson]

All this from the guy wearing a $900k watch in the video about his platform that was originally pretty much built to stalk girls on his college campus.

[@4362mont]

... says the Oligarch. The immediate response in the form of hilarious un-checked 'facts about Zuckerberg was enough to make some believe in karma.

[@poilapan]

Clearly the idea of freedom of speech to these corporations has always been "freedom for me, not for thee". Actually, also, for the past few years, the automated systems in Meta have always been borked even if the posts reported are legit s p a m. They never really cared for the user's experience; it's always for themselves (the corporations).

[@Purfunxion]

Billionaire going mask off after facist victory. I, for one, am shocked!

[@Sephiroth144]

Shocked! SHOCKED!!!! Well, not that shocked...

[@nick5661]

Ironic, I deactivated Facebook before Christmas as I wanted a break because someone was harassing me for being gay and they did nothing, now I know it will only get worse I'm not going back.

[@bekkers29]

This was the kick in the butt I needed to get off of FB and over to Bluesky.

[@adonis993]

Meta should have long been in the graveyard with myspace. His company has outlived its time.

[@alanasand44]

I deleted my FB several months ago but NEVER using is again

[@corigram]

The only social media I now use is YT and given the algorithm censoring so that 9 out of 10 comments don't post, I often sign off due to frustration. I'm very close to dumping YT as I have fb, ig and xtwatter.

[@sunshine3914]

KZbin started that at the beginning of 2024, in order to get a handle on the influx of bot scammers. And it worked. There were channels that were inundated with bots. At first YT told creators to control them, or face demonetization. It’s frustrating, but I much prefer having to watch my words than to see bots take over.

[@corigram]

@sunshine3914 Sure, but commenting about mutant ninja turtles on a sewing channel??? Watching my words to the point of ridiculousness.

[@aetherkid]

My comments are constantly deleted, even when they're on-topic and positive

[@rockpupproductions]

thank you saying the truth always Steve, in the future of where we're going, we'll need people like you, because these big money jackasses are going to start bending to this terrible man

[@xavierplatinum279]

I got Facebook jail for calling someone a simpleton 😢

[@BurroGirl]

That's just wrong! And ridiculous!

[@mgscheue]

I got slapped for calling a flat earther an idiot.

[@Nemrai]

I've gotten Facebook jail a few times too. I've no idea why, because they never tell. Sometimes I'm also blocked from commenting for a short while, at times several times in a day, whether I've commented just a few times that day, or participated in a discussion. I haven't broken any of FBs rules, from what I can see.

[@tomharrison1393]

Oh are they going to let sex workers and sex educators back on Instagram then? Or is it just the fascists they are letting back? It's the fascists isn't it.

[@georged8644]

Just don't use the damn thing! Don't use any product of that company. Let his new friends in MAGA fund his lifestyle, since he obviously couldn't care less about us.

[@J3l4n]

An absolutely shocking move by Meta to absolutely no one's surprise.

[@princesspupcake1269]

Yeah their updates to their "hateful conduct" rules are fucking absurd, too. You can't call people stupid, or insinuate they have mental problems........ unless they're queer or trans, then it's perfectly allowed. Not even joking. Also why does Zucc still look completely inhuman. He's got some weird necklace and an extremely fancy watch, but suddenly has curly hair for some reason and a T-shirt that looks too big for him...

[@BlueBeetle1939]

This is his dude bro joe rogan phase

[@unknownpresences5627]

​@BlueBeetle1939 OMG youre so right!!!

[@RainMan68]

He got a perm and is wearing a beefy-tee. Maybe he's going through a mid-life crisis(?) Whatevers.

[@sunshine3914]

Kimmel said Zuc looks like he’s transitioning into one of The Golden Girls

[@BlueBeetle1939]

Why does every social media want to be the exact same website?

[@BlueBeetle1939]

Like i legitimately just want somewhere to post pictures of my dogs and drawings i dont want to be angry about nonsense i want dogs and drawing tips

[@euansmith3699]

@@BlueBeetle1939 Dog? DOGS!!? You Monster! Social Media is for Kittens!!!! Oh, and tips on drawing kittens...

[@JesmondBeeBee]

If Musk could get his way there would just be one website, X, where you do everything. The whole internet would just be X.

[@KatharineOsborne]

Tumblr and KZbin are really the only social media I use now. Tumblr has anonymity and the ability to easily curate the content you see (and if I do chose to view stuff from the algorithm, it will happily feed me all the Marxist and Luigi content I want). You stand the risk of being exposed to A/B/O content though, so there is a downside.

[@MikesOrganicVideos]

Of course it did. Of course he did.

[@thunderbirdcalls]

Of course this is happening.

[@Fly1024]

Zuckerberg’s excuse is like saying “Since we implemented the seatbelt law people are still dying in car crashes, clearly it’s not working, so we are removing the seatbelt law and relying on everyone to watch out for other drivers to avoid crashing.”

[@MsQueenOfDance]

Free expression to say slurs, I guess.

[@princesspupcake1269]

That's all it ever boils down to when rightoids whine about free speech.

[@sunshine3914]

That “comedian” he had at MSG, that’s the type of “comedy” that is on the rise.

[@OpinionsNoOneCaresAbout]

Huh. Conservatives lost their damn minds because we called them "weird", and now this.

[@klisterklister2367]

Also lol Facebook was instrumental in organizing the jan 6th debacle. It wouldn't have happened without facebooks help.

[@lotusson]

Let's not overlook the performance art on display. Zuckerberg 100% did not need to make a personalized video. A press release, or just flat out not saying anything would have accomplished the same goal. He wanted to be seen doing so in order to signal to everyone that Facebook is on "their" side. (And let's be honest, a video was about the only way to get Trump to pay attention)

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

Feelings over Facts

[@euansmith3699]

FEELINGS DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR FACTS!!!! 🤬 🥵

[@queenannsrevenge100]

“Fact checkers are too politically biased” That statement sets off ALL alarm bells for me.

[@ZZealot]

"Our platforms can also be better monetized by using some more disinformation" what a clown.

[@undinism69]

This is simply to prepare for the upcoming monopoly trial

[@stephanier.tinney343]

Yes

[@warrenerickson4159]

I used to think FB as Fading Boomers, but now I consider it to be Fascist Book.

[@SweetTG80124]

I feel like that is kind of a stretch.

[@aetherkid]

​@@SweetTG80124watch the video again

[@BurroGirl]

Bravo Steve! Agree wholeheartedly.

[@GhostRydr1172]

Here's hoping - really, really hoping - that the backlash against this is so severe that Zuck is left utterly reeling. And ruined. 🙏🙏🙏

[@wolfe6220]

I KNEW Zuck was going to say they were moving to Texas! Its what all dumbass companies do... And I say that as a (liberal) Texan.

[@sunshine3914]

Howdy 🤠 neighbor

[@wolfe6220]

@sunshine3914 Howdy! I take it you are another blue dot in a sea of red?😁

[@nataschavisser573]

So he is basically saying that their moderator AIs don't work very well and getting people with some modicum of common sense to do the work will be too expensive and legally complex so they will just allow people to spew whichever harmful nonsense they please and brand this as freedom of speach.

[@mgabor6936]

Right. Btw. Fakebook is full of Russian bots and fake profiles spreading hate speech and disinformation. So much for Suckerberg.

[@Concreteowl]

No attempt to remove deep fake adverts making false claims about fraudulent gaming apps .

[@FireElement7]

We have a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires.

[@IAmTheAce5]

Reducing "mistakes"- i.e. not countermanding the holy word of the Dear Leader

[@floraidh4097]

They always joked about him looking like a robot, but I guess they got it wrong he’s actually a puppet!

[@PatrickPaul1203]

I now get a daily wire or one of their affiliates posts on my feed everyday. It’s truly pushing a far right agenda

[@maxw678]

I agree with everything that you’ve said, it needs to be said that more people voted for Trump than they did for Harris and therefore they wanted these changes in Facebook and so on. The American people wanted a reality show full of twists and turns and absolute craziness and this is what they got.

[@euansmith3699]

I wonder when Zuckerberg is going to lose his curly locks and go full Luthor?

[@simonfrederiksen104]

Translation: We need to fall in line with Trump and X or they will hound our ass

[@ittt6339]

Yes, Zuckerberg, we trust you. We trust you as much as we trust a rabid dog.

[@disky01]

Congrats on booking the Improv, Steve.

[@user-ye1go6hw9r]

FACTS DON'T HAVE A BIAS! FACTS ARE FACTS!

[@NikolaHoward]

So, we now got Linked in, KZbin and BlueSky... ?? This is sickening.

[@ReaderInSeattle]

Well, until those get taken over...

[@teknomancer6330]

I first deleted the vast majority of my content (pics mainly), then closed my Facebook account 10 years ago. Best decision I ever made, recommended.

[@thesmilingtouristguide4931]

Time to make some decisions. Do I stay for the groups that are good and healthy or check out as Zuckerberg is a trumper. But most billionaires are trumpers. It's going to be hard task. We are all caught up in a big matrix.

[@sunshine3914]

Been trying to find a local contractor in our county for 3 years on there. Every damn one (& there’s lots) are maga. 🤮 I rather die.

[@sambabisky4742]

Well Zuck drank the cool aid, he is doing that to make it better, how thoughtful.

[@mauricecaler1010]

I never did Facebook because it was already showing regressive tendencies when I started doing social media. But I have done IG. But I'm done with that. I already found the fraudulent ads and some of the content bad but Zuck has convinced me to give it up.

[@koihoshi]

I got off facebook a while ago. It was the best thing I have done for my mental health in years.

[@Unprotected1232]

Meta executive Connor Hayes recently told the Financial Times that they intend to roll out more AI profiles. In fact they already did back in 2023. My best guess is that Mets wants to use fake AI powered users to sell ads directly to its users. Regular ads are simply too obnoxious. There's also the capacity for actual social engineering for other nefarious purposes. No corporation should have this power, even if they never intend to use it.

[@alexamerling79]

Sad thing for Mark here is that he won't get in the MAGA club. Glad I got rid of Facebook and instagram.

[@huntcw]

Fascism, but also transphobia, which went up over 2,000 percent after Musk’s x ditched the fact checkers. I own a gay bar, and our Facebook page went from about 6k reach for years to 600 since they started this swerve(they’ve been blocking queer content from feeds since July, you know political content, like drag shows or trans socials) I doubt his pivot back to political content will mean our numbers will go back up

[@ctwb-06]

To be fair did anyone believe anything on Facebook before?

[@johncattley5919]

Is this the free speech platform that bans pseudonyms?

[@TheRicardo1280]

Another good one. I hope you’re seeing and hope you address the stuff him and Fox are saying about LA

[@Egooist.]

Thank you for your output & input!

[@MichaelHaneline]

This shit makes my stomach churn

[@Arulane]

Thanks, Steve. I always love your take on things.

[@Tacom4ster]

Never trusted that guy since watching the Social Network movie

[@DetroitAlan01]

What’s Zuckerberg going to do when people and advertisers start leaving Facebook/Meta in droves? Unlike Musk, with Twitter/X, Zuckerberg doesn’t own another company to offset any significant losses generated by this platform. It’ll be interesting to see how Zuckerberg reacts when things start going into the red.

[@Rick-m2p]

Welcome to the big brothers ministry of truth, when do we get the thought police

[@ReaderInSeattle]

This is really double plus ungood, isn't it?

[@lucadivine3862]

Mark, I already knew your platform was a lost cause. I didn't need more reasons to not use The Facebook.

[@smallstudiodesign]

I haven’t been on Facebook since May 2024. My iPhone was stolen when on a 5 week holiday in Europe (so I had to wait until I returned to replace it). Once you get out of the habit of social media (specifically the Meta/Facebook/Instagram) you can start living a life that is more fulfilling and rewarding.