Meta is ready to work with the Trump administration, calling it a “great defender of free speech”
9 January 2025 06:16
Meta’s Director of International Relations Joel Kaplan appeared on the Republican Fox News channel to talk about the new content moderation policy on Facebook, Instagram and Threads announced by Mark Zuckerberg, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
“This is a great opportunity for us to restore the balance in favor of freedom of speech. As Mark says in his video, we are returning to our roots and freedom of speech,” Kaplan said.
He also said that Meta is changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially those that the company believes are “too restrictive and don’t allow enough discussion around sensitive topics like immigration, transgender issues, and gender.”
“We want to make sure that discussion can take place on the platform freely, without fear of censorship. We have the opportunity to change the rules and make them more favorable to freedom of expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we’re actually changing the way we apply those rules,” Kaplan said.
In 2021, Facebook’s Supervisory Board supported the decision to block then-former US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after he praised the people who took part in the January 6 storming of the Capitol. But now, after Trump’s new victory, Meta sees the re-entry of his administration as a positive signal.
“We have a new administration coming in that is far from putting pressure on companies to censor and is a big supporter of freedom of expression. This brings us back to the values on which Mark founded the company,” Kaplan said.
He also said that Meta sees “opportunities to partner” with the Trump administration not only on freedom of expression, but also in “promoting American business and America’s technological advantages.”
