Statement from Congressman Dan Goldman on Meta's Decision to Abandon Independent Fact-Checking on Its Platforms

January 9, 2025 Press Release “Meta’s decision to gut their content moderation department is a dangerous capitulation to improper and undue pressure from Donald Trump, who directly benefited from Russia’s use of social media to interfere in the 2016 election and was then banned by Meta after he tried to overturn the election in 2020. “This new policy will allow the proliferation, on the largest social media platforms in the world, of misinformation, criminal conduct including foreign malign influence in democracies around the world, and hate speech. “Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s explanation for this new policy is as disingenuous as it is misguided. As a member of the Subcommittee on the ‘Weaponization’ of the Federal Government, I witnessed firsthand the Republicans’ total failure to show that the Biden Administration engaged in any kind of censorship; in fact, the evidence showed just the opposite. “Instead, Zuckerberg’s submission to the President-elect's demands is simply the latest in a series of troubling decisions by business leaders eager to curry favor with the incoming president in order to avoid threatened retribution by a wannabe authoritarian who has frequently used social media for improper purposes. It is the first step towards the erosion of our democracy. “Social media companies play a vital role in preserving our democracy. We must ensure these companies uphold this responsibility to the American people.” ### Issues : Civil Rights, LGBTQIA+ Rights, and Combating Hate Democracy and Voting Rights