
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent move to swap out his company’s fact-checkers for a crowdsourced “Community Notes”-like feature is nothing short of a stunning display of irony, given the circus of political pressure he’s been under. Taking a cue from X’s viral attempt at fact-checking, Zuckerberg has decided to lean into the chaos, naming his new feature exactly the same thing. This is what happens when Donald Trump’s second election leaves a mark, and it’s a direct slap to the face of the political and media powers that have spent years trying to bully platforms into censoring content.
While career bureaucrats continue to flail around trying to squirm out of Trump’s looming shadow, they’re also rebranding their counter-disinformation efforts like that one relative who can’t stop trying to “fix” everything. This has left the world of free speech feeling like a half-baked mess—two steps forward, one giant, awkward stumble back.
And yet, despite Justin Trudeau’s resignation signaling that even Canada has had enough, Europe is still clinging to its heavy-handed regulations. Ever the realist, Zuckerberg warned about this growing global crackdown when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, revealing just how much pressure the Biden administration put on Meta to censor content—whether it was memes or pandemic humor.
In a dramatic plot twist, Zuckerberg has apparently “seen the light,” with reports claiming that he’s now a full-fledged advocate for “classical liberalism” (yes, the very same Zuckerberg who was once accused of pushing a progressive agenda). This sudden conversion didn’t happen overnight, but according to insiders, it had a lot to do with Meta employees pushing him too far to the left, even demanding his resignation over Trump’s comments in 2020.
But the drama doesn’t stop there. Meta’s about-face includes loosening up content filters and abandoning their overzealous “policy violation” approach. Zuckerberg’s latest call for free speech echoes Trump-era rhetoric, promising to push back on the ever-expanding international censorship agenda. So, get ready for Meta’s newfound freedom of expression—just don’t expect it to be universally loved. The internet, after all, has always been a battleground for ideas—just with a lot more snark.