The shocking Facebook headlines just keep coming. On Monday, The Washington Post reported that, in late 2020, Mark Zuckerberg personally caved to a demand from Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party to help silence anti-government critics in the Southeast Asian nation. The Post cited three unnamed sources said to be familiar with Zuckerberg’s call, which they say effectively handed the Vietnamese government the power to remove “anti-state” posts from Facebook platforms. The Facebook CEO reportedly gave in to the demand following a threat that the company could be knocked offline in Vietnam, where it earns an estimated $1 billion in annual revenue.
In a statement, Facebook said the decision was justified “to ensure our services remain available for millions of people who rely on them every day.” Meanwhile, CNN reported Monday that Facebook scrambled to take down several human trafficking advertisements on Instagram after the news network flagged them to the company. Separately, The Verge reported that Facebook split nations into four tiers to determine the level of resources each would get to help fight election disinformation.
Read it at The Washington Post
