Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg on Twitter fact-checking Trump: Companies shouldn't serve as 'arbiter of truth'
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg questions Twitter's decision to fact check two tweets from President Donald Trump, saying private companies shouldn't serve as an "arbiter of truth."
Zuckerberg made the remarks during an interview on the Fox News Channel show "The Daily Briefing." An excerpt showing the remarks released Wednesday, with the full interview airing Thursday.
"We have a different policy I think than Twitter on this," said Zuckerberg. "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online. I think in general private companies probably shouldn't be – especially these platform companies – shouldn't be in the position of doing that."
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey disputed Zuckerberg's comments in a series of tweets, defending the company's fact-checking.
"This does not make us an 'arbiter of truth,'" wrote Dorsey. "Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions."
This does not make us an “arbiter of truth.” Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
Twitter fact checks Trump: President threatens to 'regulate' social media companies
Trump vs. Twitter: What 'big action' does president plan for social media networks?
On Tuesday morning, Trump posted two tweets making unsubstantiated claims about mail-in ballots, calling them "fraudulent." Twitter then inserted links to a fact-check of Trump's comments alongside both tweets, saying "get the facts about mail-in ballots."
Trump lashed out at Twitter, which has served as the president's key digital platform for reaching out to supporters, threatening to "strongly regulate" social media platforms.
"Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices," wrote Trump. "We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen." Trump is reportedly planning to sign an executive order Thursday on social media.
Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
Savannah Behrmann and Kelly Tyko contributed to this report. Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Twitter fact checks Trump: Facebook's Mark Zuckberberg disputes move
