The News Agents

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Wednesday, 8 January 2025 - 50 minutes

It was only 8 years ago that Mark Zuckerberg found himself apologising for misinformation posted and shared by the Facebook algorithm, acknowledging the harm and damage it was capable of causing, and putting forward the steps to rectify it. But eight years is a long time. Particularly when you have faced threats of imprisonment from the incoming administration. And yesterday, the CEO went full MAGA and decided that following Donald Trump's election it was time to scrap the fact check operation - that will save them huge amounts of money - and allow for a similar process of 'content moderation' to the kind Elon Musk is happy to use on X. Did the damascene conversion come as a result of those threats? 'Probably, yes'. Trump agreed. So has Facebook given up on Fact? And who will be the next tech giant to cave to Donald Trump?

Later, we speak to Wes Streeting about election interference and why he thinks Tommy Robinson is now providing a template for some Tory MPs.

Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8

Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Louis Degenhardt

Producer: Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalist: Michael Baggs

You can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in America here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFE

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usa

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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