Mark Zuckerberg defended his policy Facebook to let politicians run political ads, along with the right to free speech in a speech that he gave on University of Georgetown.
I don't think it's right for a private company to censor politicians.
Zuckerberg's speech, which was a rallying cry for the First Amendment at a time when free speech is under siege worldwide, acknowledged that Facebook is gaining from misinformation, and stated that this is why the company decided to allow inaccurate ads to remain on the platform:
Given the sensitivity surrounding political ads, I've been thinking about whether we should stop allowing them altogether. From a business perspective, the controversy is certainly not worth the small amount of profit they bring to our business. But political ads are an important comeye of expression – especially for local candidates, challengers and diverse advocacy groups who may not get the attention they need from other media outlets.
Throughout his speech, Zuckerberg has put forward Facebook's policies as a result of moral choices and not as business decisions.
"The ban on political ads favors the established and whoever the media covers," he said, noting that the solution is to track who is publishing the content and not the content itself.
You can view controversial things, but you need to support them with your real identity and take responsibility.
Zuckerberg's comments come at a time when Facebook faces very serious problems in disseminating misinformation. The largest social network is currently being investigated by the Ministry of Justice and 40 Attorneys General for possible antitrust violations. Politicians Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren have called for the company to be dissolved.
Warren asks for her change policy on the political ads served by the platform as they say they have turned it into a “disinformation-profit machine”.
For Zuckerberg the phenomenon is nothing more than the cost of free expression.
I don't think people want to live in a world where we can only publish things that technology companies consider to be 100 percent true. I believe that there should also be misinformation for more free expression.