“Human rights observers have pointed out that Meta has been inconsistent in applying its own policies when it comes to, for instance, content related to Palestine, which has reportedly been systematically suppressed. In this regard, Zuckerberg’s positioning of fact-checking as a form of censorship aligns with Elon Musk’s supposed ‘free-speech absolutism’, which has also been shown to be not only hypocritical, but clearly in favour of interests on the far right of the political spectrum. But most of all, the timing of Meta’s announcement, on the eve of the return of Donald Trump to the White House, strongly suggests that Zuckerberg is currying favour with the new political powers in the US.”