When Abbie Hoffman was asked at a forum whether he believed people had the right to yell fire in a crowded theater, he marched to the edge of the stage and yelled “FIRE.” While I don’t go quite that far, I am a proud member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a constant defender of the First Amendment right to free speech.
Nonetheless, I found Zuckerberg’s comments on the refusal of Facebook to prevent political ads that are lies were unconvincing. Earlier this week I posted that Zuckerberg had endorsed Donald Trump. That was from a Facebook ad placed by Elizabeth Warren to illustrate the problems with Facebook running lies. I don’t know how many of you believed it, but it was an outright lie.
Facebook is a new phenomenon that I doubt James Madison could have anticipated. Facebook has over two BILLION subscribers worldwide. For a comparison, the New York Times has about four million. That’s about two-tenths of one percent of the people reached by Facebook.
Zuckerberg gave a speech yesterday in which he mentioned Martin Luther King and the Founding Fathers and explained how he was defending free speech and advancing dialogue. He said it would be difficult to determine lies. Almost every day both the Washington Post and the New York Times analyze Trump’s tweets. They present facts that show Trump is making things up, or is partially telling the truth, or is factual but misleading. If those newspapers can do that, why can’f Facebook with its far greater resources?
Of course, you could always do what I do. If you are on Facebook, quit. Life goes on. If you haven’t signed up, don’t. Your life will be better.
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