President Donald Trump took aim at Facebook on Wednesday, suggesting the social media company was in cahoots with “Fake News” networks.
Facebook is already under pressure in Washington, where investigators and Congress are already examining thousands of Facebook advertisements from the 2016 election. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg also recently announced he will sell many of his shares over the next year and a half, which will raise money to support some progressive causes. Facebook was not immediately available to comment on the tweet.
The company’s curation of news articles has drawn ire from both political parties. Last year, Zuckerberg agreed to meet with conservative leaders after accusations it had suppressed right-leaning news. But Virginia Democrat and Intelligence committee chair Sen. Mark Warner has also pressed Facebook and other social media companies on accusations they enabled Russian tampering in the U.S. election, calling recent disclosures the “tip of the iceberg.”
News organizations, too, have a fraught relationship with the social network. While Facebook and Google offer tools for journalists, a group of news organizations have also said that the near-duopoly of online advertising is a threat to free press.
Zuckerberg and Trump’s relationship has not seen the same public scrutiny as, say, Washington Post owner and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. But one of Facebook’s most influential investors, Peter Thiel, is a Trump ally. A recent profile in Vanity Fair suggested Thiel is leaning toward more oversight of large technology companies. (Thiel was not immediately available to comment to CNBC).
Nonetheless, Facebook’s share price has risen nearly 45 percent so far this year, amid broad gains in the technology industry.
Aside from being avid users of social media, Zuckerberg and Trump have something else in common. Zuckerberg’s 2017 tour of America — often compared to a political campaign — has focused on some of the same core issues as Trump’s campaign. Zuckerberg has said he hopes to visit 30 states this year because Americans “need to find a way to change the game so it works for everyone.”
Source: Tech CNBC
Trump claims Facebook is 'anti-Trump,' and says it's colluding with news networks in tweet