Joe Biden slams Mark Zuckerberg as 'a real problem'

[highplainsdem]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/17/joe-biden-slams-mark-zuckerberg-as-a-real-problem/

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg woke up Friday morning to harsh criticism from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who suggested that Zuckerberg could be held legally liable for his company’s policies regarding what can be said in political ads on the Facebook platform.

In an interview with the New York Times, Biden called Zuckerberg “a real problem” when he responded to a question about an ad that ran on Facebook last October that said Biden had blackmailed officials in Ukraine in order to stop them from investigating his son, Hunter. Biden said the experience only cemented his thoughts about Facebook’s ability to influence voters’ opinions.

“I’ve never been a fan of Facebook, as you probably know,” Biden said. “I’ve never been a big Zuckerberg fan.”

Facebook has been the subject of much criticism over its policy of not fact-checking political ads for false statements. Last week, Facebook said it had no plans to make any major changes to its political ad policy during the current presidential election campaign.

Biden told the Times that Americans have a right to be concerned about how much influence Facebook has over the messages put in front of voters.

“I’ve been in the view that not only should we be worrying about the (Facebook’s) concentration of power,” Biden said. “We should be worried about the lack of privacy and them being exempt, which you’re not exempt. [The Times] can’t write something you know to be false and be exempt from being sued. But he (Zuckerberg) can.”

Biden went on to say that if it can be found that Facebook actually did harm via its political ad policy, he thinks Zuckerberg and his company should face some kind of punishment.

“He should be submitted to civil liability and his company to civil liability, just like you would be here at The New York Times,” Biden said. “Whether he engaged in something and amounted to collusion that in fact caused harm that would in fact be equal to a criminal offense, that’s a different issue.”

-snip-

[Thekaspervote]

1. Madam speaker has said the same!! BOYCOTT FB...now

[Mike 03]

2. Joe Biden's argument seems sound.

Zuckerberg has already admitted they know many of these ads are false but will refuse to fact check or ban them. So there is the "knowingly" part of the allegation, and probably the "recklessly" part as well.

Knowingly,
Recklessly,
Disseminating defamatory untruths about people, well-known or otherwise.
It doesn't necessarily protect them that politicians are public figures.

It's really incredible that the truculent geek who started Facebook--and was really only a problem for people who use Facebook--has now become a peril to the country.

[bullwinkle428]

3. Zuckerberg's role in the outcome of the 2016 election still has not

been sufficiently addressed by the press, IMO.

[comradebillyboy]

4. Both Joe and Nancy Pelosi are denouncing Zuckerberg. And rightly so.

[getagrip_already]

5. fb needs to be broken up....

So does google and amazon for that matter.

[dalton99a]

6. Kick

[Raster]

7. Fuck you Mark Zuckerberg*...

I have DELETED my Farcebook* account. Fuck you #MarkZuckerberg.
You are a liar and a traitor, who willingly allowed American's private Farcebook* information to be used by Mercer*s Cambridge Analytica* in their quest to aid the Russians* in SELECTING @realDonaldTrump as POTUS.
3:30 PM · Dec 26, 2018

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Amazing how the Nation is waking up to

just who is and what Zuckerberg is all about. Watch Biden become the ugly target from the Bot Network whom Zuckerberg seems to rely on for his mega profits.