Zuckerberg defends Facebook's approach to free speech,
draws line on China
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 [October 18, 2019] By
David Shepardson and Katie Paul
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
Facebook Inc <FB.O> Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday defended
the social media company's light regulation of speech and lack of fact
checking on political advertising, while citing China's censorship as a
roadblock to operating in the country.
Facebook has been under fire in recent years for its lax approach to
fake news reports, state-backed disinformation campaigns and violent
content spread on its services, prompting calls for new regulations
around the world.
In a speech at Georgetown University filled with references to the First
Amendment and the fight for democracy, Zuckerberg stood his ground,
saying social media had introduced transformative avenues for speech
that should not be shut down.
"People having the power to express themselves at scale is a new kind of
force in the world. It is a Fifth Estate alongside the other power
structures of society," he said.
Zuckerberg framed the company's decisions around that concept, including
its recent retreat from years of aggressive courtship of China, an
obstacle to his vision of connecting the world's population.
He attacked the rapidly growing Chinese-owned app TikTok, saying the
short video platform censored political protest, including in the United
States, a charge the company denies.
In leaked audio of an address to Facebook employees weeks earlier,
Zuckerberg spoke about TikTok as a formidable competitor, calling it the
first consumer internet product built by a Chinese tech giant to find
global success, but did not mention its approach to speech.
Over the course of Facebook's charm offensive, Zuckerberg met with
Chinese President Xi Jinping, learned Mandarin and posted a photo of
himself running through Tiananmen Square.
Facebook briefly won a license to open an "innovation hub" in Hangzhou
last year, but it was later revoked.
Zuckerberg effectively closed the door to China in March, when he
announced his plan to pivot Facebook toward more private forms of
communication and pledged not to build data centers in countries with "a
track record of violating human rights like privacy or freedom of
expression."
He repeated his concern about data centers on Thursday, this time
specifically naming China.
"I wanted our services in China because I believe in connecting the
whole world and I thought we might help create a more open society,"
Zuckerberg said. "I worked hard to make this happen. But we could never
come to agreement on what it would take for us to operate there, and
they never let us in."
He received a question from the audience about what conditions or
assurances he would need to enter the Chinese market, but did not
address them in his response.
[to top of second column] |
Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to address the
audience on "the challenges of protecting free speech while
combating hate speech online, fighting misinformation, and political
data privacy and security," at a forum hosted by Georgetown
University's Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics)
and the McCourt School of Public Policy in Washington, U.S., October
17, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
"FEIGNED CONCERN FOR FREE EXPRESSION"
Zuckerberg also defended the company's political advertising policies on
similar grounds, saying Facebook had at one time considered banning all
political ads but decided against it, erring on the side of greater
expression.
That assertion was immediately panned by critics, among them candidates
seeking the Democratic presidential nomination who have asserted the
company should do more to address disinformation and abuse ahead of the
November 2020 election.
Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign quickly accused Zuckerberg of
using "the Constitution as a shield" for Facebook's bottom line.
"His choice to cloak Facebook's policy in a feigned concern for free
expression demonstrates how unprepared his company is for this unique
moment in our history and how little it has learned over the past few
years," said spokesman Bill Russo.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, another leading contender for the
Democratic nomination, has been especially vocal about her critiques of
Facebook, bashing its advertising policy and calling for the company to
be broken up on antitrust grounds.
She recently challenged Facebook's policy that exempts politicians' ads
from fact-checking, running ads on the social media platform containing
the false claim that Zuckerberg endorsed Trump's re-election bid.
But the focus on free speech is likely to win Zuckerberg some friends on
the right, whom he has been courting aggressively in a recent visit to
Washington and dinners at his home in California.
Republican lawmakers routinely accuse the company of showing
"anti-conservative bias" in its content moderation, without offering
evidence. The company denies any favoritism.
Facebook has been under scrutiny after finding Russian propaganda on its
platform which many believe affected the outcome of the 2016 U.S.
presidential election, won by Donald Trump.
Trump has disputed claims that Russia has attempted to interfere in U.S.
elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied it.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Katie Paul; Writing by Katie Paul;
Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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