Tech Billionaires Are Lining Up To Kiss Trump's Ring

By Natasha Lennard, The Intercept

In a shameless act of genuflection toward the incoming Trump administration, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that his social media platforms — which include Facebook and Instagram — will be getting rid of fact-checking partners and replacing them with a “community notes” model like that found on X.

There could be little doubt about whom Meta aimed to please with these changes: Donald Trump and his far-right political movement.

In a video message explaining the announcement, Zuckerberg framed the new policies in the Republican lexicon of “free expression” against “censorship,” echoing right-wing talking points about how the social media platform’s third-party fact checkers have been prone to “political bias.”

And ending the fact-checking program was a direct demand of Trump’s pick for Federal Communications Commission chair and current FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, according to The Verge.

Then there was the venue: News of the changes was first shared by Meta’s chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan in an exclusive on “Fox & Friends,” Trump’s favorite show.

Zuckerberg and his executives’ naked pandering is worthy of contempt. As is the tech mogul’s decision last month to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.