Zuckerberg is among the most influential know-how and media executives on Earth and is price over $219 billion as of Thursday morning, rating because the fourth-richest particular person on the planet. Up to now, conservatives have derisively labeled his political donations as “Zuck bucks,” although they certainly have a unique tackle the CEO’s newest contribution.
Early in 2024, Meta introduced it will restrict the attain of political content material on Threads and Instagram, which means tens of millions of individuals would merely not see info referring to the continuing election. A subsequent investigation by The Washington Publish discovered that the suppression of content material throughout Meta’s platforms, together with Fb, meant that posts by the way mentioning voting have been hidden from tens of millions of customers.
Meta’s actions occurred on the similar time that Trump backer and megadonor Elon Musk opened the floodgates on X, previously referred to as Twitter, to amplify right-wing content material, together with content material from neo-Nazis and Republicans.
Earlier than this election cycle, there was extra friction between Zuckerberg and Trump. Instantly after Trump incited the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, he was suspended from Meta’s platforms, although this ban was lifted two years later. Earlier this yr, Trump threatened that Zuckerberg might “spend the rest of his life in prison” if Meta platforms continued to restrict the unfold of right-wing misinformation and different falsehoods, corresponding to election denialism.
However now that Trump is headed again to the White Home, it seems that all is forgiven.
The budding alliance between Trump and Zuckerberg echoes the reward Trump acquired from Amazon head and Washington Publish proprietor Jeff Bezos. “Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory,” Bezos wrote on X following Trump’s victory.
Bezos’ congratulations got here a number of weeks after he prevented the Publish from publishing an editorial endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy.
Trump now has three of the main tech and media titans in his camp—Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Musk—and he isn’t even president but.
