Is Mark Zuckerberg’s Recent Shift Towards Donald Trump a Strategic Move or Genuine Belief?

The neatly trimmed hair has lengthened, his university kid’s hoodie has transformed into a gold chain, and his beliefs have veered sharply to the right.

Mark Zuckerberg, the leader of Facebook and Instagram, accused governments and traditional media on Tuesday of promoting censorship, and pledged to return his globally dominant platforms to their origins.

“We’re reestablishing free expression on our platforms,” he declared in a video shared on his social networks on Tuesday, where he announced the discontinuation of fact-checking in the US.

The unexpected shift to Trump-like talking points has puzzled many of Zuckerberg’s closest observers, but the technology innovator’s sudden alignment with the conservative side is not the first instance of him taking action to maintain his control over social media.

It may also mirror a stance that is more in line with his political inclinations. Since the initial days of Facebook, Zuckerberg has always been eager to advance the interests of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and now Threads without any hindrances.

Right from the start, Zuckerberg has surrounded himself with libertarian voices from Silicon Valley, including long-time advisors Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen, the latter being Meta’s longest-serving board member.

However, the success of Facebook as it evolved from a college networking platform to the primary global communication platform quickly led to scandals and compelled Zuckerberg to take action to fend off government interference.

Facts verification and stricter content controls, which Zuckerberg stated he was “eliminating” on Tuesday, were a response to such scandals.

Following the 2016 US presidential election, widespread criticism about misinformation on the platform, particularly regarding foreign meddling and viral false stories, prompted Facebook to introduce a fact-checking program.

“The main point is: we take misinformation seriously,” Zuckerberg wrote at that time.

This initiative marked a significant shift in Facebook’s approach to moderating content, which had always been an afterthought, or even a subject of criticism, for the disruptors of Silicon Valley.

The subsequent Cambridge Analytica scandal in the late 2010s, which exposed the unauthorized collection of millions of Facebook users’ personal data, further heightened scrutiny and led to Zuckerberg being summoned before Congress and an enhancement of Facebook’s content policies.

‘Paying homage’

Since then, Zuckerberg has shown increasing political astuteness, managing to evade substantial US government regulation while coming across as cooperative with politicians and apologetic to an irate public.

Despite the negative press, the user base of the platform’s sites has only grown over the years.

For some, Tuesday’s surprising announcement is seen as a tactic to keep the government at arm’s length, except this time the political climate has shifted towards Trump, who has made repeated threats against Zuckerberg, accusing him of being too supportive of liberal causes.

“This is a case of paying homage,” said tech analyst Carolina Milanesi.

“He’s doing what is necessary to ensure that Trump will leave him alone.”

A more unexpected development is that his shift towards the right aligns Zuckerberg with Elon Musk, who has become a close ally of Trump but is a competitor to Zuckerberg.

Recently, the two men vowed to engage in a mixed martial arts cage fight, as their rivalry escalated into the absurd.

“There is this significant, technocratic billionaire meeting of minds with Trump and the right, and this acceptance of the idea of censorship,” Kate Klonick, Associate Professor of Law at St. John’s University Law School, mentioned during a Lawfare panel.

Others suggest that Zuckerberg fears Musk will monopolize Trump’s attention.

“There might be a touch of billionaire envy,” said Andrew Selepak, media professor at the University of Florida.

The stakes are high, especially as Zuckerberg competes with Musk and other tech giants in advancing artificial intelligence.

But for Selepak, Zuckerberg appears to be more genuine in his U-turn on Tuesday.

“It seems like he is making a political pivot, somewhat like Musk,” who had previously backed Democrats, primarily due to concerns about climate change.