Ever since the election big tech has begun to align more closely with the Trump administration. Whether it is just for show or it is a permanent shift remains to be seen. But the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberger did as expected considering his past history with regulations and safety measures. Recently he pulled back anti disinformation tools that were barely working. Facebook is expected to be even more overrun with virulent content then it already is. He has also appointed an ally to President Donald Trump on the board of executives. These moves to cower to the president are no surprise though.

Mark Zuckerberg has always been ready to push aside safety and put profits over people. In 2013 violence was sparked in Myanmar after rumors spread on facebook about the muslim minority leading to riots against them and death of many. During the genocide watchdogs informed Facebook of the preprations for violence and they did nothing. Even in the US, Facebook’s algormatic promotion partiality led to the victory of Trump in 2016. All of this and he made only minor changes. He was even called to testify before congress. But now he is seeking friends in high places by placating to Trump. He also constantly bended the rules for Trump’s rhetoric on the platform.

Not only has he rolled back safety restrictions but there are reports of social media accounts being forced to follow Donald Trump or JD Vance. Whether it is a technological glitch or a deliberate malpractice is unknown. But many other purposeful actions have led to an increase in misinformation like his removal of the factcheck. During the pandemic facebook was one of the main networks where fake news spread. Facebook did little while videos calling the pandemic a conspiracy and a plot. These led to thousands of ignoring restrictions and believing the pandemic is fake and passed away from covid. Mark Zuckerberg and the engineers at facebook knew that the algorithm could lead to this kind of chaos and yet refused to address the issues even before.

Zuckerberg was willing to abandon any principles he had during that time aside from a goal to a techno centric future where everyone was interconnected no matter the cost. During this election season Mark Zuckerbeg has sought to align himself with Trump. Even before the election he called Trump a “bada**” after he was shot by a sniper. Recently he donated a million dollars to the inauguration. He is trying to gain Trump’s favor to protect his companies interests from regulation and antitrust suits by the government. Recently the Biden administration has gotten tough on corporations more than any other president. Democrats have increased scrutiny of big tech and particularly their use of dangerous algorithms. An antitrust suit was brought against them hoping to break Meta apart as a Monopoly. He is hoping that the Trump administration will stop it. In Silicon Valley some are getting upset with the democrats due to them regulating their companies due to their use of unethical trade practices. Facebook has been faced with scrutiny from both sides due to concerns about the platforming harming children. But recently Speaker Mike Johnson was skeptical of a bill that protected children and chose to be more concerned about conservatives being censored. The bill never passed the house. But some republicans are still skeptical of Mark Zuckerberg and are weary of a ploy to avoid regulation like Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee. Mark Zuckerberg after the 2021 riot at the capitol decided to get tough finally on hate speech but that did little. He made other changes like that before.

Mark Zuckerberg is only concerned with the profits and does not care about any ethics or principles. He, like the other tech oligarchs, will align with any candidate that protects their interests. Before he did so with the democrats and in 2016 with trump. But just because Donald Trump won the election does not mean Facebook and the other tech companies can do what they want with no public outcry. If misinformation and trash floods the platform it will lose money which will hurt an already weakening Meta. He may have a friend in Washington but the power on capitol hill can easily change and the next administration may prove hostile to big tech.