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TECHNOLOGY Monday 1 June 2020
Online divisions: Twitter, Facebook diverge on Trump's words

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and the coronavirus pandemic
PAUL WISEMAN is forcing tech firms to re-
AP Business Writers think what goes unchal-
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — lenged on their platforms.
President Donald Trump Zuckerman noted, for ex-
posted identical messages ample, that both Face-
on Twitter and Facebook book and Google have
this week. But while the two been vigilant about bar-
social platforms have very ring the conspiracy theory
similar policies on voter mis- video "Plandemic,'' which
information and glorifying makes false claims about
violence, they dealt with COVID-19 and therefore
Trump's posts very differ- poses a potential threat to
ently, proof that Silicon Val- public health.
ley is far from a united front "It's really a no-win sce-
when it comes to political nario''' for social media
decisions companies, said Patrick
Twitter placed a warning Hedger, research fellow at
label on two Trump tweets the Competitive Enterprise
that called mail-in ballots Institute. q
"fraudulent" and predicted
problems with the Novem- In this June 7, 2019, file photo, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey leaves after his talk with French President
ber elections. It demoted Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
and placed a stronger Associated Press
warning on a third tweet
about Minneapolis pro- visceral negative reaction Daphne Keller, a fellow at Facebook defending their
tests that read, in part, that to this kind of divisive and Stanford University's Center companies and explaining
"when the looting starts the inflammatory rhetoric.'' for Internet and Society. that it would not be in their
shooting starts." But Facebook decided, "Why the difference? ... interest to alienate half of
Facebook left the posts he said, to keep the presi- Maybe Facebook thinks it their U.S. users.
alone. dent's comment's on the has more to lose by alienat- While critics have accused
"Facebook doesn't want to site because "we read it as ing Republicans.'' both Zuckerberg and Dors-
alienate certain communi- a warning about state ac- Trump and fellow conserva- ey of cozying up with one
ties," said Dipayan Ghosh, tion, and we think people tives have been claiming side of the political alley
co-director of the digital need to know if the govern- for years that Silicon Valley or the other, Zuckerberg
platforms and democracy ment is planning to deploy tech companies are biased appears more intent on
project at Harvard's Kenne- force.'' against them. But there is remaining in the mushy
dy School. "It doesn't want More broadly, Zuckerberg no evidence for this — and middle — even when that's
to tick off a whole swatch has often said Facebook while the executives and proving increasingly diffi-
of people who really be- does not seek to be "the ar- most employees of Twit- cult.
lieve the president and ap- biter of truth.'' ter, Facebook and Google "Facebook doesn't want
preciate his tweets." Still, Facebook has long may lean liberal, the com- to alienate anybody,'' said
Twitter, on the other hand used fact checks on its site, panies have stressed they Ethan Zuckerman, director
has a history of taking stron- done by third-party news have no business interest in of the Massachusetts Insti-
ger stances, he added, in- organizations such as The favoring on political party tute of Technology's Cen-
cluding a complete ban Associated Press, and it over the other. ter for Civic Media. "Twitter
on political advertisements constantly uses algorithms The trouble began in 2016, seems more comfortable
that the company an- to decide what to show its two years after Facebook saying: 'Look, as a private
nounced last November. 2.5 billion users. And it is set- launched a section called platform we reserve the
That's partly because Face- ting up an oversight board "trending," using human right to do whatever want
book, a much larger com- to decide whether to re- editors to curate popular to do.' ... They're right. This
pany with a broader audi- move controversial posts. news stories. Facebook was is not a First Amendment is-
ence, caught in the cross- Meanwhile, Twitter CEO accused of bias against sue'' involving government
hairs of regulators over its Jack Dorsey tweeted that conservatives based on the censorship.
size and power, has more Twitter will "continue to words of an anonymous Zuckerman said that tech
to lose. And partly because point out incorrect or dis- former contractor who said companies' approach to
the companies' CEOs don't puted information about the company downplayed handling misinformation
always see eye to eye on elections globally." But he conservative issues in that and incitement to violence
their role in society. added: "This does not make feature and promoted lib- has had to change. "Both
"Our position is that we us an 'arbiter of truth.'" eral causes. Zuckerberg and Dorsey are
should enable as much ex- This is not the first time that Zuckerberg met with promi- from the generation of in-
pression as possible unless it a social media company nent right-wing leaders at ternet entrepreneurs that
will cause imminent risk of clashed with the president. the time in an attempt at had a very strong freedom
specific harms or dangers And with six months to go damage control. In 2018, of speech bias... you should
spelled out in clear poli- before the election, it won't it shut down the "trending" be able to say whatever
cies," Facebook CEO Mark be the last. section but by then the nar- you want, and no should
Zuckerberg said in a post "It sure looks like, in the face rative of conservative bias block it,'' Zuckerman said.
on his social network Friday. of pressure to follow the had spread far and wide. But that hands off ap-
Referring to the president's White House's preferred Congressional hearings proach no longer appears
comments about the Min- speech policies, Facebook about conservative bias sustainable.
neapolis protests, Zucker- chose appeasement and followed, with the lead- Perhaps even more than
berg said that he had "a Twitter chose to fight," said ers of Google, Twitter and Trump's provocative tweets