Ted Cruz Stands Up To Facebook For Chick-fil-A, Diamond And Silk

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 29: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) asks questions as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies during a Joint Economic Committee on Economy Hearing on Capitol Hill November 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. Yellen spoke about gradual interest rates increases in the future. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 29: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) asks questions as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies during a Joint Economic Committee on Economy Hearing on Capitol Hill November 29, 2017 in Washingto... WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 29: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) asks questions as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies during a Joint Economic Committee on Economy Hearing on Capitol Hill November 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. Yellen spoke about gradual interest rates increases in the future. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday grilled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on whether or not his social media platform was suppressing the viewpoints of important conservative figures like Diamond and Silk, the popular Trump surrogates, and fast-food chain Chick-fil-A.

“There are a great many Americans who I think are deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship,” Cruz told Zuckerberg during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees.

“There have been numerous instances with Facebook,” he continued, before listing a few, starting with a 2016 Gizmodo report that former Facebook employees claimed the website’s “trending” sidebar had suppressed conservative-leaning stories.

“In addition to that,” Cruz continued, “Facebook has initially shut down the Chick-fil-A appreciation day page, has blocked a post of a Fox News reporter, has blocked over two dozen Catholic pages and most recently blocked Trump supporters Diamond and Silk’s page, with 1.2 million Facebook followers, after determining their content and brand were, quote, ‘unsafe to the community.’ To a great many Americans that appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias.”

Zuckerberg didn’t answer for the individual examples Cruz gave — TPM was unable to immediately verify them, save for Diamond and Silk’s well-reported claim, though they were not blocked — but said he was similarly concerned about ensuring that Facebook didn’t represent a political bias. Cruz interrupted him, asking if the website had blocked posts from a list of progressive organizations. Zuckerberg said he wasn’t aware. 

Cruz also asked if Facebook asked potential content moderators about their political views, to which Zuckerberg answered that the company didn’t.

And, in response to a question from Cruz, Zuckerberg said that ousted Oculus cofounder Palmer Luckey had not left that position for political reasons. Before Luckey left Oculus, which had been acquired by Facebook, the Daily Beast revealed that he’d supported an anti-Hillary Clinton group.

“I can commit that it was not because of a political view,” Zuckerberg said.

Watch below:

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Poor Conservatives. They get shafted at every turn.

    Or so I’m told.

  2. Ted Cruz’s conservative pity party. Never mind how Fox News determines Trump’s policy decisions and Sinclair is now TrumpTV propaganda.
    He’s microwaving fish again.

  3. Diamond and Silk? Is that a Stormy movie?

  4. Go eat a booger, Ted.

    Useless, universally hated person. Even your colleagues hate your guts, because you are a miserable toad.

  5. The amazing power of Ted Cruz to not get to the heart of the matter. Truly sir, you are a giant among Titans.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

152 more replies

Participants

Avatar for xpurg8d Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for jeffgee1 Avatar for meri Avatar for jjwhack Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for maxwellsdemon Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for bradbennett Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for joelopines Avatar for pb Avatar for greylady Avatar for kitty Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for beattycat Avatar for esperia Avatar for rickjones Avatar for flyingmango Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for drtv Avatar for rascal_crone

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: