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The Congresswomen of Color Gave Mark Zuckerberg the Reproach He Deserved
Facebook is responsible for much misinformation and violence around the world, and the women of color held its founder accountable
In April, when Mark Zuckerberg testified before the Senate, it became crystal clear just how out of touch and out of step members were with regard to Facebook and how it actually functions. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) said to Zuckerberg, seemingly impressed with himself, that he was the first member who had his “Facebook address” printed on his business cards. Zuckerberg, 35, made the Senators, whose average age in the joint committee is 62 years old (with the chair-people in their eighties), seem like a bunch of dinosaurs.
However, when Zuckerberg trekked back to Capitol Hill last week to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, he was faced with a rude awakening by the women of color on the committee, spearheaded by none other than Auntie Maxine “The Queen of Shade” Waters. While Zuckerberg was back on the Hill to talk about Facebook’s latest escapades — this time its foray into cryptocurrency with the invention of “Libra” — the members of the committee had other plans. The questions they asked mostly revolved around Zuckerberg’s laissez-faire attitude as it pertains to regulating fake news on the platform.
Allowing the over two billion people that use Facebook to figure out for themselves if an ad is real or not is not only irresponsible but dangerous.
Chairwoman Maxine Waters came out of the gate strong with her questioning. She narrowed in on the fact that Facebook does not fact check political ads: “Are you telling me you plan on doing no fact checking on political ads?” asked Chairwoman Waters. “Our policy is that we do not fact check politician’s speech... we believe that in a democracy it is important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying,” answered Zuckerberg.
So, let’s get this straight: The policy Facebook is rolling with is that fact-checking politicians who lie somehow undermines our democracy? That makes absolutely no sense. What undermines…
