Zuckerberg vs Durov · Caldron Pool

Conservatives and Christians have been claiming for years that there is an actual left-wing cancel culture. There is actual censorship, and the state, media, and tech sectors seem to be working overtime to suppress the truth and information they don’t like.

Of course, when we bring this up we are accused of being paranoid, of being crazy, of being conspiracy theorists, and so on. But what happens when the big bosses start admitting these things? What happens when they come out and start confessing – at least some of their crimes and misdemeanors? Well, I think we can start by saying, ‘We told you so!’

As many of you may have heard by now, Meta Big Cheese Mark Zuckerberg just said what he was talking about—and it’s a very big deal indeed. Meta is, of course, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. In a letter to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, he admitted that there were three major instances of this kind of thing—things we’ve been saying all along.

He admitted that:

• First, the Biden administration (and that includes the Harris administration) pressured Facebook to censor Americans;
• Second, that Facebook itself was actively involved in censoring Americans; and
• Third, they wanted to cover up the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Wow. Again, our side has been saying this for years. But it’s nice to see the man finally admit that he did this at least in part. If you haven’t seen his letter from August 26th, I’ll show you the whole thing:

Chairman Jordan:

I appreciate the Committee’s interest in content moderation on online platforms. As you know, Meta produced thousands of documents as part of your research and made a dozen employees available for transcribed interviews. In addition to our collaboration with your research, I welcome the opportunity to share what I have learned from this process.

There’s a lot of conversation going on right now about how the US government is dealing with companies like Meta, and I want to be clear about our position. Our platforms are for everyone — we promote expression and help people connect with each other safely. As part of that, we regularly hear from governments around the world and others with various concerns about public discourse and public safety.

In 2021, senior officials in the Biden administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed significant frustration with our teams when we disagreed. Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to remove content, and we are accountable for our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure. I believe the administration pressure was misguided, and I regret that we were not more vocal about it. I also believe we made some choices that, given what we know now and with new information, we would not make today. As I told our teams at the time, I believe strongly that we should not compromise our content standards because of pressure from any administration in any direction — and we are prepared to fight back if something like that happens again.

In another situation, the FBI alerted us to a potential Russian disinformation operation targeting the Biden family and Burisma in the run-up to the 2020 election. That fall, when we saw a story in the New York Post about corruption allegations involving the family of then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, we sent that story to fact-checkers for review and temporarily downgraded it while we waited for a response. It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in hindsight, we should not have downgraded the story. We’ve changed our policies and processes to ensure that doesn’t happen again. For example, we no longer temporarily downgrade things in the US while we wait for fact-checkers.

In addition to content moderation, I want to talk about the contributions I made to support electoral infrastructure during the last presidential cycle. The idea here was to ensure that local election precincts across the country had the resources they needed to help people vote safely during a global pandemic. I made these contributions through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. They were designed to be nonpartisan — spanning urban, rural, and suburban communities. Yet, despite the analysis I’ve seen to the contrary, I know that some people believe this work has benefited one party more than the other. My goal is to be neutral and not to play a role in any way — or even to appear to play a role. So I don’t plan to make a similar contribution this cycle.

Yours faithfully,

Mark Zuckerberg Founder, Chairman and CEO Meta Platforms, Inc.

Hmm, there you have it. Hopefully we’ll get some of the other big players soon – be it Google, YouTube, lamestream media outlets, and political leaders – to come clean about more of this dirty and devious activity. It’s been going on for years and it’s high time it came to light.

As for Zuckerberg, there is much more to the man and his media empire than just these major revelations. A headline that appeared the day before his letter read: “Elon Musk Slams Zuckerberg: ‘He Censors Free Speech, Gives Governments Back Door Access’.”

The article then goes on to say the following:

“Zuck Bucks” wasn’t the only way the Meta CEO allegedly helped the establishment, as Elon Musk delivered a scathing accusation regarding free speech. For the side of the political divide that likes to promote spectrums, issues of what they consider acceptable discourse have become increasingly black and white. When Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on charges of failing to curb criminal use of the messaging app, Musk recalled Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s platforms and outlined why the Facebook co-founder got a free pass.

“Because he already bowed to censorship pressure,” the billionaire entrepreneur wrote in response to the question, “WHY DON’T THEY ARREST MARK ZUCKERBERG FOR ENABLING CHILD PREACHERS?” The post included a CBS report on a lawsuit filed against Meta, with Musk sharing his own links to support the claim: “Instagram has a huge child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck because he censors free speech & gives governments backdoor access to user data.”

In 2023, when 33 state attorneys general filed a joint lawsuit against Meta alleging harmful effects on children across its platforms, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D) filed his single lawsuit alleging that Meta “enabled adults to find, message, and entrap minors by soliciting them to sell photos or participate in pornographic videos. “Meta and its CEO tell the public that Meta’s social media platforms are safe and good for children,” the filing said. “The reality is very different. Meta knowingly exposes children to the dual dangers of sexual exploitation and mental health harm. Meta’s conduct has victimized children in New Mexico who are on its platforms. Meta’s motive in doing so is profit.”

Along with Torrez’s claim that platforms like Instagram had “become primary venues for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex,” Musk had linked to the House Energy & Commerce Committee sharing findings from a Wall Street Journal report that found “Instagram is connecting a vast pedophile network.”

Key findings from the report include allegations that Instagram’s algorithms actively promote illegal content, that the platform connects users to the child pornography market by allowing explicit hashtags, that it allows the use of search terms with potentially harmful and illegal content, and Meta’s admission that the company failed to combat inappropriate content and enforce its policies.

Durov

Since Pavel Durov from Telegram was already mentioned above, I want to briefly discuss him.

George Christensen said the following about his arrest:

What does it say about the state of free speech when a Western country arrests the founder of one of the few platforms that refuses to submit to government censorship? That’s exactly what happened when French authorities arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at Le Bourget airport last weekend (Saturday, August 24). His crime? Refusing to turn his platform into yet another instrument of government surveillance and censorship.

He continues:

Telegram has long been the Wild West of social media, a platform where people can speak freely without fear of the strict moderation of Big Tech. Sure, there’s some chaos, just like on the streets of Paris, but let’s face it: there’s far less vice and criminal activity on Telegram than you’d find in some of the world’s most “civilized” cities. But despite the French government’s claims about cracking down on crime, this bust reeks of something far more sinister: a brazen attempt to send a message to anyone who dares to support free speech.

And there’s more to it than just censorship. In a rare interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Durov revealed that the US “Deep State” pressured him to create backdoor access to Telegram. This would allow them to spy on users under the guise of “national security.” Durov didn’t budge—he refused.

Instead of complying, he doubled down on keeping Telegram free from government snooping. In the same interview, Durov also attacked Apple and Google for their intimate relationships with government agencies and their willingness to censor content when necessary. Durov’s defiance made him a target. The timing of his arrest is no coincidence.

This isn’t just about Telegram, it’s a warning shot to anyone who stands up for freedom of speech in the digital age. As X continues to maintain its largely non-censorious stance on political, philosophical, and cultural discourse, those in power are growing increasingly uneasy. Elon Musk is no doubt wary. Telegram is not only the bane of Western governments, but also of Russia, as it has amplified the voices of dissidents and opponents of the Kremlin…

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former U.S. presidential candidate who has consistently fought against the erosion of free speech, also weighed in. He highlighted Durov’s arrest as a stark reminder of the growing threat to platforms that protect speech and privacy. As he aptly put it: “The need to protect freedom of expression has never been greater.“The reality is clear: Durov’s arrest is purely about control, pure and simple….

Today it’s Telegram. Tomorrow it could be X, Rumble, Substack or any other platform that puts your freedom and privacy above government demands.

That’s right.

One meme currently doing the rounds on social media says this about Zuckerberg vs. Durov: “Mark Zuckerberg is free because he sells people’s personal information. Pavel Durov is not free because he doesn’t sell people’s personal information.”

There might be something in it. The battle for freedom of speech continues.