Mark Zuckerberg Sees the Light of the Right and Ends Facebook Censorship
In a display of uncharacteristic candor, Mark Zuckerberg—Silicon Valley’s boy-wonder-turned-censorship-czar—has pivoted toward the very principles of free expression he once seemed all too willing to trample underfoot. Speaking to comedian and podcast impresario Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience, Zuckerberg revealed an unsavory chapter in the annals of the Facebook—now Meta—empire. “Essentially, officials from the Biden administration would call up our team, berate them with expletives, and demand the removal of content they deemed inconvenient,” Zuckerberg admitted. “At a certain point, we just said, ‘No, this is absurd. We’re not going to remove things that are true.’” Such a confession from Zuckerberg, whose social media leviathan has played arbiter of acceptable discourse for years, represents a volte-face that could well send tremors through the gilded halls of Silicon Valley. The White House, unsurprisingly, declined to comment on Zuckerberg’s incendiary revelations when approached by NBC News. In his exchange with Rogan, Zuckerberg conceded that Facebook had, at times, capitulated to governmental pressure—an act as disappointing as it is illuminating. “We made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today,” he reflected, as if awakening from a long slumber in a technocratic utopia of his own design. The White House, for its part, has defended its prior exhortations to tech companies, invoking the specter of a “deadly pandemic” to justify its interventions. “Our position has been clear: we believe tech companies and other private actors should consider the effects their actions have on the American people,” the administration said in a statement that, notably, sidesteps the essence of Zuckerberg’s critique. Zuckerberg’s commentary suggests a broader rethinking of Meta’s role in the epistemological marketplace. “I generally believe that, as a principle, people should decide what is credible, what they want to believe, and who they want to vote for,” he declared. “I don’t think that should be something tech companies—or any company—should determine.” To hear Zuckerberg espouse what amounts to an endorsement of intellectual self-determination is both a testament to the enduring power of American ideals and a reminder that even the most obdurate guardians of the algorithm are not beyond redemption. One can only hope this awakening marks a substantive shift rather than a convenient moment of rhetorical self-interest. For in a republic of free men and women, the prerogative to discern truth belongs to the citizenry—not to government apparatchiks, nor to their willing accomplices in Silicon Valley’s ivory towers.
Smith: President Trump’s Tax Plan Will Fix Weak Biden-Harris Jobs Market
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the final jobs report of the failed Biden-Harris Administration, showing a labor market reliant on bureaucrat hiring:
“The Biden-Harris labor market failed to deliver for American workers. The average paycheck today is worth 3 percent less than the first day of the Biden presidency. President Biden slowed recovery from the pandemic by paying people more to stay at home than go to work, raising taxes, and threatening more regulations. President Biden’s so-called ‘manufacturing boom’ was actually a government spending bonanza with a blue-collar recession that lost over 87,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year. Businesses, squeezed by high inflation and interest rates, cut hiring. But government jobs were on the rise.
“President Trump and Republicans have a mandate to quickly undo the damage done by the Biden-Harris Administration and restore our nation’s greatness and prosperity. Under unified Republican leadership, Congress must act swiftly on tax relief for families and small businesses reeling from four years of inflation, high interest rates, and uncertainty. Today, small businesses and manufacturers are making decisions about future hiring and expansion. They need the assurance they won’t pay a 43.4 percent tax rate, and they need incentives to support domestic manufacturing. President Trump has the right policies to grow paychecks, create jobs, and supercharge our economy. After four years of waiting, there is no time to waste. January 20th cannot come soon enough.” Key Background:
• Everything Costs More: Prices have increased 20.6 percent since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Americans Making Less: Real wages and benefits have fallen 3 percent since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Inflation Above Fed’s Target: For 45 straight months, inflation has been above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
• Inflation Higher Than Wages: Inflation outpaced wages for 26 straight months under the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Historic Interest Rates: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, interest rates hit their highest levels in 23 years. Mortgage Costs 81 Percent Higher: The monthly mortgage payment for a median priced new home has increased by nearly $1,000 and is over 80 percent higher than when President Biden and Vice President Harris took office in January 2021.
• $1 Trillion+ Credit Card Debt: Credit card interest rates are at their highest levels in more than three decades, while consumer credit debt has exceeded $1 trillion for six calendar quarters. The number of Americans struggling to pay credit card bills has increased to levels not seen since the great financial crisis. More than 11 percent of credit card balances are more than 90 days past due.
• Shrinking Savings: Thanks to higher prices, families have spent the entirety of their pandemic savings by 2024, and they are able to save less of their income. The average personal savings rate since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office is 2.9 percent lower than the pre-Biden-Harris average and it remains comparatively low at 4.4 percent today.
• Families Falling Behind on Bills: Over one-third of families (37 percent) paid a late fee in the past year.
