![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2018\/04\/Mark_Zuckerberg_at_the_37th_G8_Summit_in_Deauville_018_v1.jpg\")
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Facebook was in the national spotlight this week, but the social media giant would probably have preferred to remain in the shadows. The investigation is officially under scrutiny about the abuse of Facebook user\u2019s data and the social media website\u2019s roll in spreading fake news. The joint session of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees\u2019 questions of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, however, showed that there were a number of other concerns that needed to be addressed.<\/p>\n
During Zuckerberg\u2019s seven hour testimony, the CEO was asked about a number of issues. He was questioned if the company\u2019s handling of the Cambridge Analytics affair violated its 2011 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission. Zuckerberg was also asked about Russia\u2019s involvement and fake news. The attempted hacking of campaign candidates\u2019 pages was addressed as well. One of the lines of questioning that got a great deal of attention, however, was the question of whether Facebook has been censoring and removing conservative and Christian content.<\/p>\n
Ted Cruz took the lead in this line of questioning when Zuckerberg was in the hot seat. When Zuckerberg carefully danced around the question of whether Facebook was a neutral public forum, Cruz laid out the accusations that conservative and Christian Americans have levied at Facebook. \u201cThere are a great many Americans, who I think are deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship,\u201d said Cruz. \u201cThere have been numerous instances with Facebook.\u201d Among the examples listed by Cruz were the careful suppression of stories about Mitt Romney, the Lois Lerner IRS scandal and Glenn Beck. The \u201cChick-Fil-A Appreciate Day\u201d page was blocked as well were two dozen Catholic pages. Zuckerberg was also asked about Diamond and Silk, a page with 1.2 million followers whose \u201ccontent and brand were \u2018unsafe to the community.\u2019 To a great many Americans,\u201d Cruz said, \u201cthat appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg answered, again, with a rather careful non-answer about how it was a valid concern but that he tried to ensure that \u201c[Facebook employees] don\u2019t have any bias in the work that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruz, however, was not satisfied with that answer. He asked if Zuckerberg knew of any ads or pages from Planned Parenthood, MoveOn.org or any Democratic candidate that had been taken down. Zuckerberg admitted he did not know of any such ads or pages that had been blocked.<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg insisted several times in his testimony that Facebook was \u201ca platform for all ideas.\u201d Many Christians and conservatives, however, saw his non-answers as proof that Facebook was a platform for only certain types of ideas. It is unclear exactly how this will affect the way people view Facebook, but Cruz\u2019s determination to drag an answer out of Zuckerberg proves that the question of bias is not one that can be simply swept under the rug anymore. People want answers, and they are determined to get them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Facebook was in the national spotlight this week, but the social media giant would probably have preferred to remain in the shadows. The investigation is officially under scrutiny about the abuse of Facebook user\u2019s data and the social media website\u2019s roll in spreading fake news. The joint session of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[31,33,30],"class_list":["post-38","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-news","tag-anti-christian","tag-censor","tag-facebook"],"yoast_head":"\n