On Capitol Hill, lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday over the social media giant’s plans to launch a cryptocurrency called Libra that would reshape the world’s financial system. They also blasted Zuckerberg over Facebook’s policy allowing politicians to lie in political advertisements.
Michigan Congressmember Rashida Tlaib said she feared that far-right hate groups were using Facebook event pages to incite violence against Muslims and other minorities — including death threats directed at her office. This is New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioning Zuckerberg.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “One more question: In your ongoing dinner parties with far-right figures, some of whom advanced the conspiracy theory that white supremacy is a hoax, did you discuss so-called social media bias against conservatives? And do you believe there is a bias?”
Mark Zuckerberg: “Congresswoman, sorry, I don’t remember everything that was in the question.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “That’s all right, I’ll move on. Can you explain why you’ve named The Daily Caller, a publication well documented with ties to white supremacists, as an official fact-checker for Facebook?”
Mark Zuckerberg: “Congresswoman, sure. We actually don’t appoint the independent fact-checkers. They go through an independent organization called the Independent Fact-Checking Network that has a rigorous standard for who they allow to serve as a fact-checker.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “So, you would say that white supremacist-tied publications meet a rigorous standard for fact-checking? Thank you.”
Mark Zuckerberg: “Congresswoman, I would say that we’re not the one assessing that standard. The International Fact-Checking Network is the one who is setting that standard.”