Parler CEO Questions Facebook Whistleblower's Motives
Are Haugen’s complaints about more than child-harming content?
On Wednesday, Parler CEO George Farmer told Mornings with Maria viewers his concerns about Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s motives, citing her commitments to the Democratic party. According to Federal Election Commission records, Haugen has donated to Democrats 37 times since 2016.
Referring to several cases of Democrats vying to censor various types of protected speech online, Farmer is concerned Haugen’s complaints are about more than child-harming content.
In her testimony to Congress, Haugen suggested modifying Section 230 to exempt decisions about algorithms from immunity. But as Parler Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff pointed out on The Chris Salcedo Show, it is doubtful updated regulation wouldn’t include other changes that violate the First Amendment.
"Now I think the Democrats are taking this upon themselves to fashion the regulation in a way that they see fit, which worries me," Farmer said.
Farmer explained that the real issue is that platforms like Facebook and Twitter tout their ability to moderate content fairly and appropriately yet fail to do so.
"Part of the thing about this censorship debate is that the giant tech platforms say that they have these great moderation policies which sit on the platform, which prohibit this kind of content from going live, and that just isn’t true."