Facebook quietly meeting with conservatives as Trump allies complain about bias

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has met with prominent Republicans and Trump-supporting television personalities in recent months to discuss partnerships, Politico reported on Monday.

The meetings came even as those same people criticized Zuckerberg’s company for being biased against conservatives — a claim not based in reality.

Facebook is meeting with conservatives including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to stave off any lawsuits against the company from Attorney General Bill Barr, who Zuckerberg worries will try and break up the company, Politico reported.

Trump, for his part, has threatened to break up companies like Facebook, not because he thinks they are a monopoly but because he has conjured up an idea that they are somehow “biased” against him and Republicans.

In reality, conservative outlets are frequently on the list of top publishers on the platform, according to NewsWhip. And Trump has been allowed to continue airing ads that used false information to attack former Vice President Joe Biden, despite Facebook’s policy against misinformation.

Democratic presidential hopeful and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren drew attention to Facebook’s faulty policy enforcement over the weekend by running her own ad claiming that Zuckerberg had endorsed Trump for president.

He hadn’t, of course ⁠— Warren simply wanted to demonstrate the damaging effects of allowing politicians to spread false information.

“If Trump tries to lie in a TV ad, most networks will refuse to air it,” Warren wrote in her ad. “But Facebook just cashes Trump’s checks. Facebook already helped elect Donald Trump once. Now, they’re deliberately allowing a candidate to intentionally lie to the American people. It’s time to hold Mark Zuckerberg accountable […].”

Rather than amend their policies, Facebook doubled down, refusing to police false information on the platform from political candidates.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.