Facebook CEO defended free speech without taking reporters' questions

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday defended free speech while dressing students at Georgetown University. But while he was doing that, limitations placed on cover of his remarks. Reporters were t allowed to ask questions - only students were given that chance, filtered by a moderator. Even worse, Facebook and Georgetown barred news organisations from filming and inste, organizers provided a livestream on Georgetown’s social media site and me available video shot by Facebook.

“It’s quite ironic,” said Sally Hubbard, director of enforcement strategy at Open Markets Institute and a former state prosecutor. More generally, she said of Facebook, “ key to free expression is to t have one company control flow of speech to more than 2 billion people, using algorithms that amplify disinformation in order to maximize profits.”

'A joke'

John Stanton, a former fellow at Georgetown who hes a group called “Save Journalism Project,” called CEO’s appearance “a joke.” Zuckerberg “is antisis of free expression,” Stanton said in a statement. “He’s thrown free speech, public education and democracy to wayside in his thirst for power and profit.” Facebook with nearly 2.5 billion users worldwide is under heavy scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators following a series of data privacy scandals, including lapses in opening personal data of millions of users to Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Facebook has drawn accusations from President Donald Trump and his allies that platform is steeped in anti-conservative bias. Zuckerberg recently fell into a tiff with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leing Democratic presidential candidate, who ran a fake political on Facebook taking aim at CEO. Warren has proposed breaking up big tech companies. With phoney , she was protesting Facebook’s policy of t fact-checking politicians’ speech or s in same way it enlists outside parties to fact-check news stories and or posts.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defends free speech

“We think people should be able to see for mselves,” Zuckerberg responded Thursday on fact-checking issue. “If content is newsworthy, we don’t take it down even if it goes against our standards.”

Facebook also declined requests that it remove a misleing video from Trump’s re-election campaign targeting Democrat Joe Biden. A spokesman for Biden said Zuckerberg’s speech was an effort “to cloak Facebook’s policy in a feigned concern for free expression.”

“Facebook has chosen to sell Americans’ personal data to politicians looking to target m with disproven lies and conspiracy ories, crowding out voices of working Americans,” campaign spokesman Bill Russo said in a statement.

Several of students’ questions to Zuckerberg at Georgetown pointed up conflict. One asked, if Facebook supports free speech, “why is conservative content disproportionately censored?” But ar asserted that policy of t fact-checking political s is pro-conservative.

“I think it would be hard to be biased against both sides,” Zuckerberg replied, smiling.

Asked about handling of questions, Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhjara said, “y were submitted by students as y walked into room. And y’re being picked at random by Georgetown.”

(With AP inputs)