There’s no denying that Glenn Beck is famous for being one of the biggest names in journalism and a paragon of conservative activism in political circles. He commonly makes headlines by challenging the status quo and quite vocally criticizing those who he feels deserve criticism. It is these traits that got Beck the distinct honor of being one of the people that Facebook wants to talk to about free speech in the wake of a scandal involving them allegedly ‘deprioritizing’ some news stories in their “Trending Topics” ticker, essentially censoring those topics. The allegations point to what could constitute a major blow to free speech, so much so that the United States government has questioned Facebook about the matter.
Ahead of the meeting which is due to take place in Menlo Park on Wednesday and in a Facebook post talking about the invitation to meet with Zuckerberg, Beck says that the recent issue Facebook has been embroiled in is actually quite common in Silicon Valley. He goes on to say that Facebook is a global tool of connection on a personal level, on a scale unlike anything seen in the past by humanity. Calling Facebook “…the only communal experience we now have in some ways.”, he explains that the need to see all sides of a given scenario objectively is a cornerstone of free speech.
Beck also said that he supports Facebook’s right, as a private business, to run the business however they like, even if that means censoring content and putting a damper on the First Amendment, but he hopes that they will do the right thing. According to Beck, Wednesday’s meeting will boil down to whether Zuckerberg will “…see this as an opportunity to free all points of view but at the same time unify America and the world.” Beck also condemned the practices of browbeating corporations via boycotts and social bullying, saying that change incited by such behavior “doesn’t count” and that such behavior “is not who we are” as a country. He ended his post on the note that all opinions, no matter their origin, agenda or bias, should be respected, whether they are agreed with or not.