President Biden slammed Meta on Friday for ending its third-party fact-checking program, arguing that the change goes in opposition to American values and is “shameful.”
“The whole idea of walking away from facts checking [sic] as well as not reporting anything having to do with, uh, um, discrimination regarding TPS I find to be just contrary to American justice,” Biden mentioned in response to a reporter’s query about Meta’s latest coverage shift.
It’s unclear what the 82-year-old president was referring to when he steered Meta was not reporting discrimination “regarding TPS,” an acronym for the Momentary Protected Standing program supplied to overseas nationals from sure nations.
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to The Put up’s request for remark.
“Telling the truth matters,” Biden continued.
“I don’t know what that’s all about,” he added. “It’s just completely contrary to everything America’s about.”
Earlier this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced that his firm will change third-party fact-checking with a community-driven mannequin just like rival platform X’s Group Notes.
Zuckerberg mentioned the change, which can have an effect on Fb, Instagram and Threads, is aimed toward “restoring free expression” and “reducing mistakes” his firm has made making an attempt to fact-check posts.
“We want to tell the truth. We haven’t always done it as a nation but we want to tell the truth,” Biden continued through the uncommon Q&A session.
The president fumed that “a billionaire can buy something and say, ‘By the way, from this point on, we’re not going to, we’re not going to fact check anything.’”
Zuckerberg, 40, didn’t purchase Meta, he initially based the corporate as Fb in 2004.
“When you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff, it is — anyway, I think it’s, I think it’s really shameful,” Biden concluded.
Meta didn’t instantly reply to The Put up’s request for remark.
In an interview launched simply hours earlier than the president’s remarks, Zuckerberg slammed the Biden administration on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast for pushing Meta to censor content material associated to COVID-19 vaccines.
The Meta boss claimed Biden officers phoned executives on the firm to “scream” and “curse” at them whereas demanding that they take away any destructive posts in regards to the coronavirus vaccine on Fb.
“It was brutal,” Zuckerberg mentioned of the ordeal, arguing that “the US government should be defending its companies, not be at the tip of the spear attacking its companies.”
