Mark Zuckerberg is not a fan of Donald Trump. Most people know this. He has made it clear repeatedly in the past that the policies the current white house administration stands for is not something he would have backed.
When one of his board members, Mr Peter Thiel, openly said he would be backing Mr Trump even before the latter got elected as US President, he was faced with an open revolt and heavy criticism. A year on, and the mood has not changed.
However, it is now Facebook that is attracting a lot of heat recently. From the handing over of the ads paid by Russians to meddle in the elections over to the claim that Mr Zuckerberg is trying to make Facebook adapt to his personal policies rather than adhere to free speech totally.
Together with Google and Twitter executives, Mr Zuckerberg will have to appear before a US Senate Intelligence Committee by 1 November to answer questions about the allegations of Russian interference.
The fact that Mr Zuckerberg allowed the Russians to purchase ads clearly designed to steer the public in one direction, and by a country that is anti-US, does not bode well for him or his company, and it also makes any future criticism that he will have about the current White House administration less believable.
Given that he is obsessed by data he will probably try to explain that these ads were only a small part of the election material at hand in his network of 2 billion people.
However this is not the biggest concern for Mr Zuckerberg right now. The fact that he is painted in this story more of a man who couldn’t care less and not as someone who stands for total free speech will hurt him in the future should he himself (as many expect) ever decided to run for public office.
By now some of his users are questioning his policies and realizing that unless you share Mr Zuckerberg’s beliefs, Facebook might not be the place for you. In an area that is clearly hitting a plateau (younger users are flocking to Instagram and sorts), this might not be the best route to take.
Those persons calling for strict regulation of all social media, will get a boost by his ‘whatever’ reaction and the long post he felt needed posting on his own network explaining the why of him not being ‘Anti-Trump’.
But it's not the scale that's the issue here - but his immature refusal to face up to the public's concerns. It was less cover up, more can't-be-bothered.
Mark Zuckerberg has surely by now realized that he must answer his users' concerns, even when he doesn't share them. His mistake may prove extremely costly - he's boosted those calling for stricter regulation of internet companies.
Source:
