Mark Zuckerberg’s dramatic election move celebrated by Republicans

Mark Zuckerberg insists he’s staying neutral but he continues to make moves that are being celebrated by Donald Trump supporters.

He’s taking shots at Joe Biden, thinks Donald Trump is a “badass” and is making moves to ensure there can be no accusations he’s aiding the Democrats in the upcoming US election.

Mark Zuckberg might not be as much of an ally to the Republican cause as fellow tech titan Elon Musk, but he continues to send messages that are being celebrated by conservatives.

The latest came this week when a letter the Meta CEO wrote to a US congressional committee did the rounds on social media.

In it Mr Zuckerberg declared the pressure the Biden administration put on his company to take down certain Covid content in 2021 was “wrong” - and said he would resist similar attempts in the future.

Republicans pounced on it as another example of their claims that the Democrats oppose free speech.

In the letter, addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and released by Republicans on the committee, Zuckerberg also revealed the $589 million he’d spent funding election offices in 2020 was off the table.

Mr Zuckerberg had said his intent was to provide better access to polling stations for voters during the disruption of the pandemic but after sharp criticism from Republicans, who argued it benefited Mr Biden, he won’t do it again.

Intentionally or not, Mr Zuckerberg has undergone somewhat of a rebrand in recent times.

The once dorky-looking Facebook founder now surfs and fights and celebrates the Fourth of July by swilling beer while holding the American flag.

Mark Zuckerberg has undergone somewhat of a personal rebrand in recent times. Pictures: Instagram

And the red side of politics is loving it.

Mr Zuckerberg might attend Ultimate Fighting Championship events because he loves mixed martial arts but sitting ringside with CEO Dana White - who introduced Mr Trump at the Republican National Convention - perhaps isn’t where you’d find Team Kamala Harris.

A man who in 2021 banned Mr Trump from Facebook in the wake of violence at the Capitol on January 6 was also glowing in his praise of the Republican candidate after the attempt on his life at a rally last month.

“Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

“On some level as an American, it’s like hard to not get kind of emotional about that spirit and that fight, and I think that that’s why a lot of people like the guy.”

Mr Zuckerberg insists his “goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another - or to even appear to be playing a role”, but he’s not far off being grouped with fellow Silicon Valley titans Elon Musk, David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz who are opposing the traditional Democratic rule in California to varying degrees.

Mark Zuckerberg is becoming a regular fixture at UFC events. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Mr Zuckerberg’s submission to the committee comes just over two months out from a tightly contested election race, with the spotlight on widespread online misinformation about the candidates.

Regarding the pandemic, the Facebook founder said the Biden administration had in 2021 “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain Covid-19 content, including humour and satire”.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote.

“I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction — and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”

Republicans took the letter as a victory, with the Republicans’ House Judiciary Committee account on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, labelling it a “big win for free speech.”

Republicans in Congress have been targeting social media and tech companies in recent months, alleging that they are suppressing or censoring conservative views.

The letter also touched on controversy regarding Facebook’s handling of a story regarding US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter that was published by the New York Post.

Mr Zuckerberg said the story was “temporarily demoted” while Facebook fact checkers probed the possibility of it being “a potential Russian disinformation operation”.

The Meta CEO said the story was ultimately found not to be part of such an operation and that the platform has changed its policy such that posts in the United States are no longer demoted while fact checkers investigate them.

- with AFP

Originally published as Mark Zuckerberg’s dramatic election move celebrated by Republicans