Title: Zuckerberg's MAGA Shift Buys Meta Temporary Respite, But Greater Challenges Loom
In a shifting landscape, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is making some bold moves, clearly signaling friendlier territories for the MAGA movement and polarizing figures like Donald Trump. The social media giant is discontinuing third-party fact-checkers and opting for community-driven notes akin to Elon Musk's X, all while welcoming Trump ally Dana White to its board and elevating Republican lobbyist Joel Kaplan to head of global affairs.
Meta, which previously donated to Trump's inauguration fund and dined with him post-election, seeks to ward off potential corporate retribution from Trump, but potentially invites a user and advertiser backlash, particularly considering its reputation for AI slop and a dearth of innovation. On October 19th, Zuckerberg appeared on Fox News to announce these changes, positioning Meta as a pro-Trump platform.
Eliminating fact-checkers and moving content moderation to Texas to quell concerns about bias feels questionable, as the advantages of this strategy remain unclear. To further aggravate concerns, a subtle update to Meta's guidelines now legitimizes referring to LGBTQ+ individuals as having a "mental illness" and women as "household objects."
This tactical shift could bolster Meta's position in Trump's rein 2.0, but it comes with risks. As history shows us, business leaders tread carefully when provoking Trump, who has a penchant for isolating perceived adversaries. Meta embraced a hardline stance during Trump's first term, resulting in stock drops and backlash from users and advertisers.
Emulating Elon Musk's X strategy of reinstating hateful accounts can be precarious, as X has reportedly suffered a severe 80% value loss following such actions. While X can endure due to Musk's wealth, Meta's stock market valuation of $1.5 trillion leaves little room for error.
Brand safety remains crucial for advertisers. Jasmine Enberg, Emarketer principal analyst, warned that even a slight decrease in engagement could significantly impact the business. Recent instances, such as Meta's $240 billion market value drop in 2022, demonstrate how rapidly investors can turn on Meta following poor financial results.
Cory Doctorow, a journalist and activist, suggests that Meta faces both insulation from poor choices and the danger of manifesting as another "zombie" platform, like MySpace, filled with AI-generated slop and spam. By implementing these pivots, Meta executives risk missteps, from embracing the Metaverse to creating AI-generated users to boost engagement.
Throughout these bold decisions, Meta strives to mend its relationship with advertisers, leveraging brand safety tools for advertisers to navigate these changes. However, the potential rise in misinformation, harmful content, and shifts in political content pose significant challenges for advertisers, ensuring critical scrutiny and continued evaluation of Meta's revised policies.
Meta's decision to abandon third-party fact-checkers and rely on community-driven notes could potentially attract Trump's supporters, strengthening its position in a potential Trump presidency's second term. However, this business move might stir up controversy among users and advertisers who value fact-checking and object to the platform's shift towards legitimizing derogatory language.
Furthermore, Meta's strategic partnership with Dana White and the promotion of Joel Kaplan to a key role in global affairs indicates a clear shift in the platform's political leanings, which could influence its relationship with diverse user groups and advertisers.
