A couple of leaked videos confirmed what the world had known a long time ago: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg likes President Joe Biden as much as he dislikes former President Donald Trump.
"I thought President Biden's inaugural address was very good," Zuckerberg said during a company meeting on Jan. 21.
"In his first day, President Biden already issued a number of executive orders on areas that we as a company care quite deeply about and have for some time," he said. "Areas like immigration, preserving DACA, ending restrictions on travel from Muslim-majority countries, as well as other executive orders on climate and advancing racial justice and equity. I think these were all important and positive steps."
Project Veritas, a nonprofit watchdog, got the video from someone the group described as a Facebook insider.
The group also leaked a clip showing Zuckerberg disparaging Trump in another meeting.
"It's so important that our political leaders lead by example, make sure we put the nation first here, and what we've seen is that the president has been doing the opposite of that," Zuckerberg said. "The president intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power.
The meeting happened Jan. 7, a day after the Capitol riot that claimed five lives.
"His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters in the Capitol, I think, has rightly bothered and disturbed people in the U.S. and around the world," Zuckerberg said.
But Zuckerberg's statements are contradicted by the fact that Trump actually released videos after the Capitol riot asking the protesters to leave and condemning the violence.
Facebook took a number of punitive actions against Trump in the lead-up to the November 2020 election while letting Biden get away with misleading posts before and after the election. (Related: Facebook bans Trump ad that denounces Antifa violence, proving yet again how Big Tech sides with left-wing terrorists who are burning down America.)
The company ultimately banned Trump from its site, claiming he was condoning rather than condemning the actions of his supporters. Facebook cited two posts during the Capitol riot that led to its decision to ban Trump’s account. One is a video where Trump told rioters he "loved" them and that the election was "stolen from us" and the other is a post where he said: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots."
Oversight board allows public to weigh in on whether Facebook is correct to ban Trump
Facebook's oversight board, an independent panel of experts established to review contentious cases, has allowed the public to directly weigh in on whether the company is correct in banning the former president. The board will determine whether Trump's ban will remain.
"We believe our decision was necessary and right," Facebook Vice President Nick Clegg said in a statement last week. "Given its significance, we think it is important for the board to review it and reach an independent judgment on whether it should be upheld."
The public has until Feb. 8 to give its opinion on the matter while the board has 90 days starting January 21 to make its decision.
According to the board, the public comment process "is meant for subject matter experts and interested groups" although anyone can submit a comment.
The oversight board was established in 2019 in response to widespread criticism of the social network's moderation policies. It is a 20-person panel that includes academics and other experts such as Denmark's former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Director of Stanford University's Constitutional Law Center Michael McConnell.
The board's mission is to "support people's right to free expression" by upholding or reversing Facebook's content decisions.
In its first set of rulings released last week, the board found that Facebook mistakenly took down posts in five out of six cases. But those cases pale in comparison to the banning of Trump's account.
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