Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to censor President Trump’s calls for violence on the social-media platform has led to a small-scale revolt within the company, where employees held a virtual walkout earlier this week. But Zuckerberg isn’t bending, preferring to wrap himself in the concept of free speech rather than directly addressing Trump’s language. On the latest episode of the Pivot podcast, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discuss why Zuckerberg’s focus on the First Amendment is disingenuous.
Kara Swisher: Facebook doubled down on its policy to keep Trump’s racist and inflammatory remarks on the platform. In a call with employees, who protested Facebook’s lack of response to Trump, Mark Zuckerberg said his decision was tough but thorough. He said he did research, but he did not reveal what that research was. Earlier this week, some Facebook employees participated in a virtual walkout. They didn’t come to work and posted messages in solidarity with protesters asking Zuckerberg to take action on Trump’s consistent posts that encourage violence and racism. And then it came out that Zuckerberg actually had a call with the president last week.
I wrote a pretty tough column about the difference between free speech and amplifying speech like this. I called Mark the world’s most expensive customer-service rep after he had to explain Facebook policies to Trump. I certainly have a point of view that Mark Zuckerberg is not doing his job, but others disagree with me. So what do you think?
Scott Galloway: Yeah, I think you almost got it right. I don’t think he’s the world’s most expensive customer-service agent. He’s arguably the least expensive whore in the world. Anyone with a credit card who will spend $2 or $3, Mark Zuckerberg will do something. He will do anything as long as there’s a nickel at the end of it