On Wednesday, National Legal and Policy Center presented a proposal at the Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) annual shareholder meeting that would require the company to produce a semi-annual report that itemizes requests it has received from the federal government to censor information.
The company’s board of directors opposed our proposal, as explained on pages 69-71 in its proxy statement.
Speaking as sponsor of the resolution was Paul Chesser, director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project. A transcript of his three-minute remarks, which you can listen to here, follows:
Meta responds to our proposal to itemize government censorship requests it has received, and to identify government officials and bureaucrats who made those requests, by saying the Company is transparent about such matters.
But saying you are transparent doesn’t make it so.
A visit to Meta’s alleged “transparency” reports gives you numbers, but no identities.
Numbers are meaningless. All these numbers tell you is that censorship of free speech is a massive problem, and that Meta subsidiary Facebook helpfully enforces the practice.
And in the process, Facebook covers up and protects those government officials from being identified for their shameful, unconstitutional actions.
If you need an example, think of the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Mark Zuckerberg & Anthony Fauci
Dr. Fauci was known to have some conversations with Meta’s CEO and co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
Dr. Fauci was the ultimate disinformation specialist, as a leader of the influential government task force on COVID.
The response produced perhaps the greatest, maybe longest-lasting government-driven economic and health disaster our country has seen.
And Facebook aided and abetted it by censoring those who disagreed with Dr. Fauci, at his behest.
Meanwhile Facebook helped disseminate Dr. Fauci’s disinformation about COVID’s origins, its transmission, vaccines, mask-wearing, lockdowns, and closing schools.
Like so much of what we see on Silicon Valley’s social media platforms these days, information was called “disinformation,” and much of the so-called “disinformation” that was censored was actually real information!
Then there are the so-called “fact-checkers” that Facebook enlists to make its decisions on whether content should be allowed on the platform.
What a joke they are.
This global fact-checking network is funded by George Soros – enough said about that.
And then there’s the secretive online portal that Meta maintains, where people in government can quickly and easily turn in Facebook users they don’t like or disagree with.
Our proposal asks for Meta to identify these malicious individuals in government who are supposed to be public servants, not speech police.
But we are realistic that Mr. Zuckerberg, who has shareholder voting control of the Company, will never allow that.
It’s why there is now a lawsuit led by Louisiana and Missouri that could cause some serious collateral damage against the Company, which heightens the risk for shareholders.
You know, Facebook used to be a great business.
But between censorship, and false advertising about reach, and diminished audience largely because of those two things, Facebook is greatly devalued.
Mr. Zuckerberg has ruined Facebook, in favor of his virtual reality pipedreams and now A.I.
Please vote FOR Proposal Three.
Read NLPC’s shareholder proposal for the Meta Platforms annual meeting here.
Listen to Chesser’s three-minute remarks in support of the proposal here.
