Facebook recently faced a lot of criticism from conservatives who believe it is not diverse. However, this has left Glenn Beck unimpressed. In the wake of the company’s much-watched meeting with conservative media figures, the television and radio host made a post applauding the social media giant for the efforts it is making to remain impartial.
Facebook behaving appropriately
Beck also expressed his displeasure that his colleagues in the conservative media have been attacking the company.
In his post on Medium, Beck stated, “Walking out of the meeting, I was convinced that Facebook is behaving appropriately and trying to do the right thing. In my opinion, there is no evidence of a top-down initiative to silence conservative voices.”
Previously, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that there was no evidence supporting the allegation that Facebook employees were suppressing conservative news. However, not everyone agrees with Beck and Zuckerberg.
An earlier Gizmodo report gave rise to the allegations of bias, and this led the Senate Commerce Committee to open an investigation.
Senator John Thune (R-SD) stated, “Any attempt by a neutral and inclusive social media platform to censor or manipulate political discussion is an abuse of trust and inconsistent with the values of an open Internet.”
Beck compared those concerns and the recent outcry over the lack of diversity at the Academy Awards.
He wrote, “When did conservatives start demanding quotas AND diversity training AND less people from Ivy League Colleges. What happened to us? When did we become them? When did we become the people who demand the Oscars add black actors based on race?”
Zuckerberg can be trusted
Also in a recent interview with Time, Beck spoke in favor of the social media giant, and emphasized that the company is very trustworthy.
Beck said, “Not one time did I get a sense that they were saying these things to get this off their back. I think they’re sincere. Mark [Zuckerberg] looks a man in the eye the entire time. I watched him carefully.”
Zuckerberg has also cooperated with authorities on social and political issues. The Facebook CEO made a promise to Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel that he would efficiently tackle the “hateful” criticism of immigration on his platform. The German government hired an ex-Stasi agent to monitor Facebook for anti-immigration rhetoric, and Facebook is working openly with the agent to quash dissidents to Merkel’s immigration policies.
On Thursday, Facebook shares closed down 0.71% at $116.81. Year to date, the stock is up almost 10%, while in the last year, it is up more than 45%.
