Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday championed himself and the company he founded as steadfast defenders of free expression, as the social media giant faces criticism from Democrats for serving as a vehicle for the spread of misinformation.
Zuckerberg’s positioning of his company, during a speech at Georgetown University, comes as the social media giant has been pressured to ramp up its efforts to combat the proliferation of erroneous information and hateful content on the platform.
“I believe we have two responsibilities,” the Facebook founder said, “to remove content when it could cause real danger as effectively as we can, and to fight to uphold as wide a definition of freedom of expression as possible — and not allow the definition of what is considered dangerous to expand beyond what is necessary.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pressured Facebook, Twitter, and Google to devote more resources to combating harmful content, and most recently, Democratic presidential contenders have lambasted Facebook, in particular, for allowing President Trump’s presidential campaign to run ads with misleading information.
Zuckerberg acknowledged he is worried about the “erosion of truth,” but rejected the notion that Facebook and other tech companies should act as the gatekeepers for deciding whether information shared is accurate or not.
“I don’t think most people want to live in a world where you can only post things that tech companies judge to be 100% true,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe it’s right for a “private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy.”
Rather, Zuckerberg said it’s the people who “should decide what is credible, not tech companies.”
“Giving everyone a voice empowers the powerless and pushes society to be better over time,” he said.
Zuckerberg revealed he considered banning political ads from the platform altogether, but opted against it because doing so “favors incumbents and whoever the media chooses to cover.
“From a business perspective, the controversy certainly is not worth the very small part of our business that they make up,” he said. “But political ads can be an important part of our voice.”
Zuckerberg also noted there are more ads run on Facebook about issues than elections, which presents challenges as to where to draw the line between what is allowed.
“I believe that when it’s not absolutely clear what to do, we should err on the side of greater expression,” he said.
Zuckerberg touted the benefits that social media and tech companies have brought to society, including by elevating the voices of people alongside powerful institutions such as the media.
“People having the power to express themselves at scale is a new kind of force in the world,” he said. “It is a fifth estate alongside the other power structures in our society.”
Zuckerberg has in recent weeks been more visible in Washington. He met last month with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including some Republicans who have been vocal critics of the company, and at the White House with Trump. Zuckerberg will also testify next week before the House Financial Services Committee about its impact on the financial services and housing sectors.
