Greg's Corner

What does Facebook’s shareholder vote say about a free press?

Peter Thiel demonstrates how he choked the life out of Gawker.

In a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Facebook’s shareholder meeting, Peter Thiel was reelected to the Facebook board of directors amid the Gawker and Donald Trump controversies. The vote itself really wasn’t much of one since, as TheStreet points out, Mark Zuckerberg controls 60% of Facebook stock which pretty much makes him the benevolent dictator of the Facebook board.

With Zuckerberg basically giving Thiel a vote of confidence what does that say about Facebook’s stance towards a free press? As BuzzFeed points out, one of Facebook’s mission statements is “to make the world more open and connected.” With Thiel’s reelection it gives the appearance that Facebook wants the open and connected world to be only made in their own image.

With Facebook being the primary source of news for many people, they wield a mighty big stick when it comes to determining what news people see. With Thiel’s reelection it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Facebook could start limiting exposure to news outlets that are critical of them.