On Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Capitol Hill to delivery testimony pertaining to the Cambridge Analytica data controversy – not so much about previous exploitation of user data from the likes of former President Barack Obama.
The hearing allowed Zuckerberg to admit that Silicon Valley is a leftist paradise, declare ignorance of the term “hate speech,” and reveal that he is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.
But there was another revelation that could be legal trouble for Facebook and Zuckberg.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn asked Zuckerbeg is he concurred “that Facebook and other social media platforms are not neutral platforms but bear some responsibility for the content?”
The billionaire responded:
“I agree that we’re responsible for the content.”
Does this mean the website is a publisher instead of a platform? Ben Shapiro thinks so.
The founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro, opined soon after:
“Zuckerberg may have just opened himself up to a world of legal hurt. Platforms are generally not held legally responsible for the content posted on those platforms — so liability issues ranging from copyright violation to slander aren’t serious concerns for platforms… But that’s not the case with publishers. Publishers are responsible for the content that is added to their platforms… If the same were held to be true for Facebook, the company would immediately become subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in legal liability.”
He also tweeted:
Congratulations, Zuckerberg. You’re now a publisher and not a platform, and subject to legal liability that attaches. Good luck. https://t.co/QVre5Z2WrJ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 10, 2018
Surprisingly, the market did not pick up on this as Facebook shares are up nearly two percent to $168.
Let the class action lawsuits begin…
What a doofus! i don’t know whether he told the truth here or not, but he came up with the worst possible answer to the question.