Public Comment

There is little doubt that Mark Zuckerberg and his flagship, Facebook, propelled Donald Trump to victory in 2016 and is likely to repeat the favor in 2020. He has left the door wide open for Russian trolls and other fake news. His partners in crime are Twitter and Google who generate $billions in political advertising making little effort policing its content. They engage in blatant theft of users’ personal data to bombard them with advertising to maximize their profits. But Facebook is by far the worst villain in amplifying political messages. 

There is a longstanding law — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — that insulates social media platforms from legal liability and defamation and similar claims. Facebook posts false information without taking any responsibility for its content. There seems to be a cozy relationship between Trump and Facebook in which Facebook post messages enhancing Trump’s reelection and in return is fully protected by the enormous power of the presidency.  

In 2016, Facebook provided embedded staff to the Trump campaign to optimize its advertising program.
Brad Parscale, the digital director of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and now his campaign manager for 2020, admitted that Facebook tilted the election in Trump’s favor in 2016 and will likely propel him to victory in 2020. Readers please dump Facebook and save our democracy.