Ted Cruz grilled Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg over claims his social media platform is politically biased

Cruz said there have been instances where conservative or right-leaning thoughts or pages have been suppressed.



(According to this) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz grilled Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg over claims his social media platform was not indeed a neutral public forum.

Cruz, a Republican, asked several times whether Facebook is a neutral forum or whether it is simply engaging in its First Amendment right to political speech.

“There are a great many Americans who I think are deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are [engaging in] a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship,” Cruz said.

Cruz said there have been instances where conservative or right-leaning thoughts or pages have been suppressed.

He mentioned posts about the IRS scandal in which former employee Lois Lerner was accused of targeting conservative groups for additional review, posts about Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), radio host Glenn Beck, and the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.



He pointed out that North Carolina-based conservative activists Diamond & Silk had their page deemed “unsafe to the community.”

Zuckerberg said he understands the view that, as a company in liberal Silicon Valley, Calif., Facebook may engage in such politicking. But he said that is not his intent as chief executive.

Cruz appeared unconvinced and asked whether the same fate of censorship or suppression on Facebook has affected pages run by MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood or Democratic political candidates.

Zuckerberg said he was unaware of any such actions.

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