A look at the alliance of convenience between Facebook and Trump admin as sources say Zuckerberg told employees that Facebook is likely to fare better under GOP
In late 2019, during one of Mark Zuckerberg's many trips to Washington to defend Facebook in front of Congress … Tweets: @jasonschreier , @kurtwagner8 , @dannydougherty , @kurtwagner8 , @sarahfrier , @sarahfrier , @sarahfrier , @bw , and @joelwebershow Tweets: Jason Schreier / @jasonschreier : “[Zuckerberg] told employees that Facebook is likely to fare better under Republicans, according to people familiar with the conversations.” Hell of a Businessweek cover story by @KurtWagner8 and @sarahfrier https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Kurt Wagner / @kurtwagner8 : NEW: FB critics, including employees & the Biden campaign, say it's giving Trump a free pass. FB says it's upholding free speech. First @BW cover story w/ @sarahfrier looks at FB's failures enforcing its policies & what that means for the election https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Danny Dougherty / @dannydougherty : The BW cover story tells of a Zuckerberg who dropped by the White House for dinner, adamant it was not to make a deal but just because he was in town. But grabbing a bite with the president just because you're in town is... bonkers? https://www.bloomberg.com/... Kurt Wagner / @kurtwagner8 : One of Facebook's biggest critics: the Biden campaign, which sent many letters to FB this summer calling out misleading Trump posts about voting, asking FB to remove them. If Biden wins in Nov, he'll enter office feeling like FB aided his opponent. The two haven't spoken all year https://twitter.com/... Sarah Frier / @sarahfrier : This story also builds on many scoops by our competitors, linked. There are so many examples of Facebook doing special favors for people in power, looking the other way when rules are broken, giving face time with Zuck, etc. Literally not enough room in our story for all of them. Sarah Frier / @sarahfrier : Among things sources told us: - FB policy team reviewed the news feed algorithm and asked it to be tweaked so it didn't punish conservative news - Zuckerberg has told employees FB would fare better under republicans - Zuck talks to Trump but hasn't called or met w/ Biden all year Sarah Frier / @sarahfrier : Facebook has been careful to keep Trump and conservatives happy— appeasing those in power while the company faces regulatory risk. Wrote a cover story w/ @KurtWagner8 about why it's a problem for the upcoming election. https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... @bw : NEW COVER: Facebook needs Trump even more than Trump needs Facebook. Employees fear Mark Zuckerberg's commitment to free speech is more about protecting Trump than the company's ideals https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Joel Weber / @joelwebershow : NEW @BW COVER! What, Me Partisan? How a 100% totally super-neutral social platform friended Trump, by @sarahfrier & @KurtWagner8 https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Expand More For Next Unexpand More For Next
Context & Ripple Effects
The Businessweek report lands mid-campaign, after months of pressure on Facebook from the left: the Biden campaign had already escalated with an open letter to Zuckerberg demanding stronger misinformation rules, and reporting earlier this year showed Zuckerberg and other executives shelved internal research on the platform's polarizing effect. Zuckerberg's private message to employees — that Facebook fares better under Republicans — reframes those fights as deliberate positioning rather than drift.
The piece also documents the mechanics of the courtship: White House dinners, contact with the Trump administration, and a policy team that reviewed the news feed algorithm asking that it not punish conservative news. A month later, the WSJ would trace how Zuckerberg transformed from politically uninterested founder into active operator during the Trump era.
First-order effects
- Facebook's enforcement choices around Trump content — which critics call a free pass and the company calls free speech — are now legible as a calculated bet that Republican control of Washington means lighter antitrust and regulatory heat.
- The Biden campaign's existing criticism hardens: a company privately betting on the opposition becomes, for Democrats, an electoral-process threat rather than just a policy sparring partner.
Second-order effects
- A Biden victory converts Facebook from inside-the-room player to target: within weeks of the election, Biden staffers were describing their dealings with the company as leaving them convinced it threatens the electoral process, setting up a hostile regulatory relationship.
- Congressional scrutiny sharpens along both flanks at once — Republicans who benefited from the algorithm tweaks have less incentive to regulate, while Democrats cite the reported favoritism as evidence that self-regulation has failed.
Third-order effects
- The playbook persists past the administration it was built for: after Haugen's leaks, Meta was still working to divide lawmakers along partisan lines to forestall regulation, suggesting the survival strategy is structural, not tied to any single White House.
- If platforms' regulatory exposure depends on which party holds enforcement power, expect every major gatekeeper to institutionalize bipartisan lobbying the way Facebook did — making content-moderation decisions inseparable from political risk management.
The trend: Large platforms are treating regulatory survival as a political-alignment problem, calibrating moderation and lobbying to whichever party controls the enforcement levers.