Secret meeting of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with conservative journalists, the commentators and at least one Republican lawmaker, comes in spotlight today, as he has been hosting informal talks and small, off-the-record dinners in some recent months to talk about the issues like free speech and discuss about the partnerships.
The news of the outreach is likely to further fuel the suspicions on the left that Mark Zuckerberg is trying to appease the White House, and to stay out of Trump’s crosshairs. President threatened to sue the Facebook and Google in June, and has in the past pressured that the Justice Department to take action against his perceived foes.
The dinners began in July, are part of Zuckerberg’s broader effort to cultivate the friends on the right amid the outrage by President Donald Trump and his allies over alleged “bias” against conservatives at Facebook and other major social media companies. “I’m under no illusions that he’s a conservative but I think he does care about some of our concerns,” said one person familiar with the gatherings, which multiple sources have confirmed.
“The discussion in Silicon Valley is that Zuckerberg is very concerned about the Justice Department, under Bill Barr, bringing an enforcement action to break up the company,” said one cybersecurity researcher and former government official based in Silicon Valley. “So the fear is that Zuckerberg is trying to appease the Trump administration by not cracking down on right-wing propaganda.”
