WEBVTT - Social Media Show Trial 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:16.640 You are entering the freedom hunt. Facebook CEO is down 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.720 on Capitol Hill answering questions from senators who don't seem 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.520 to understand how a social media network works. Also fallout 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:26.960 from the seizure of Trump lawyer Cohen's records. We'll get 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.000 into that, plus an update on our possible serial response 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.240 and the caravan heading for the US Mexico border. That 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:37.240 a more coming up. This is The Buck Sexton Show, 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.360 where the mission or mission is to decode what really 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:47.080 matters with actionable intelligence. Make no mistake American. Ready, you're 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:55.280 a great American Again? The Buck Sexton Show begins. No, 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:00.440 Welcome to the Buck Sexton Show. Everybody. Great to have 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.240 you here with me. Always a privilege and a pleasure. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:04.880 We've got a lot of stuff to talk about today, 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.840 oh my, So let's start with like I said, Like 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.240 I just said, we got Facebook, We've got the Cohen 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.800 lawyer record seizure fallout. Our friend Andie McCarthy, the one 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:16.520 and only. He'll be joining us right in the middle 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.759 of the show, talk about He's a former Southern District 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:23.200 of New York assistant US attorney who is going to 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.480 be talking to us about what the heck did the 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.640 Southern District of New York do yesterday, So he's as 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.200 good a guys are gonna find a talk about that. Um, 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.160 we'll get into all the latest and then also later 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.759 on the show, they're attacking a part of my youth, 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.640 the Breakfast Club. We'll discuss that the social justice warriors 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.479 are going after it, and also a firm of action 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.360 Harvard and Asian Americans. That'll be a topic you want 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:52.080 to stay around for. So I'm I take a very 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.280 different point. Producer Mike agrees with me on this one. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.240 I'm gonna assume Brandon agrees to be on this one 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:57.800 just because they didn't ask him. So I'm gonna say 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:00.600 the tide goes to the buck, Thank you, Brandon. But 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.160 I think this whole Facebook thing is a social media 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:09.920 show trial. I really do. I'm I'm absolutely convinced that 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.200 if Trump had not won the election, nobody would care. 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.919 You would not have heard anything about Cambridge Analytica. Do 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:21.120 not be hearing about the threat that social media platforms 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:24.880 like Facebook pose for our democracy. And I think people 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:28.800 are getting lost in all the all the little side 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:33.720 stories and and side shows here with what's happening. Instead 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.600 of keeping an eye and the fact that this is 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:42.200 just more liberal outrage Catharsis over Hillary's loss. Why the 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.519 heck is the CEO of Facebook showing up to explain 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:50.800 to members of the Senate how Facebook works, what it's 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.640 background is. You know, don't they have Google? I mean, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.880 can't they figure this stuff out? It was incredible. If 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:57.320 you saw some of the hearing, there was a lot 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.720 of like show like Sean town I made that the 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:04.359 people put the photos and they can send the messages 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:09.200 to the friends. What is this with the the digital 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.359 photo and the face But there's no book, so it's 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:18.919 really lots of different screens, not pages. I mean, these 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:22.320 people in the Senate, they're representing you and me, my friends. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.160 They are not exactly sharp when it comes to the 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.519 digital world. I gotta say it was pretty There was 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.040 a lot of whoa, I thought you guys were up. 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.560 These are the people who are writing like cybersecurity laws. 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.320 By the way, just remember that these are the people 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.520 that are supposed to be protecting us from the best 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.320 of the best hackers that China and Russia and you know, 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.440 Iran and others can throw North Korea can throw our way. 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.840 So you're telling me the photos are posted by the users, 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.960 or where do we get these photos? Is there? Do 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.280 we do? We call the d m V on a 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.840 rotary phone. They have no idea what is going on, 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:02.880 but they know that this is a moment to make 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:06.440 a whole bunch of speeches. And they also know that 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.520 this is a story that has a much greater residence 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:12.920 with particularly the media, but the public at large then 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:18.240 it would otherwise, because this is called this is holding 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.360 something to account for Hillary's loss other than Hillary. And 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:25.479 I can't help but go down the list. Okay, so 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:31.400 we've had Hillary loss, but because Comey. Remember that Comey 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.400 came out and said that we found more emails right 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:37.920 before the Life. Hillary lost because Comy. Hillary lost because sexism. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:43.080 That's been a fun one. Hillary lost because Russia ran 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:50.760 some incredible international scheme of subversion and mind manipulation. Uh 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.920 and now Hillary lost because Russia did that. But also Facebook, 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.880 Facebook should have done more. In fact that the ceo himself, 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.400 I was out there talking about Mark Zuckerberg, who is 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.880 my contemporary, unfortunately worth quite a bit more than me, 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.440 got quite a bit of a bigger bank roll, which 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:15.279 makes me sad. But nonetheless he he said that he 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.160 was there, and then he was being held accountable himself personally. 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:23.599 It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.479 these tools from being used for harm as well, and 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.960 that goes for fake news, for foreign interference and elections 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:34.080 and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.400 We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.919 and that was a big mistake, and it was my mistake, 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:46.480 and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:51.440 I'm responsible for what happens here. Now we have to 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:55.040 go through are all of our relationship with people and 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:57.680 make sure that we're taking a broad enough view of 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:02.000 our responsibility. It's not enough to just connect people. We 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.080 have to make sure that those connections are positive. It's 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.480 not enough to just give people a voice. We need 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:09.360 to make sure that people aren't using it to harm 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:13.440 other people or to spread misinformation. And it's not enough 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.520 to just give people control over their information. We need 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:18.640 to make sure that the developers they share it with 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:23.960 protect their information too. Now, put aside for a moment 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.240 that this guy who I feel like definitely got his 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:28.920 fair share of wedgies back in the day, Do you 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:31.080 remember that that was a thing we're gonna talk about 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.200 eighties movies later. Well, what's what do you call it? 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:35.320 When somebody takes that, puts them in the headlock and 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.800 and you know, like thank you a noogie? And wedgies? 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:41.800 Remember those that kind of no one ever talks about. 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.960 I think right now you'd probably get you know, be 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:47.040 it's some sort of code violation in schools or something. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.760 I allowed to do that anymore. Forget about code red. 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:51.520 You're not even allowed to give people a wedgie anymore. 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.359 You're gonna get in, You're gonna get locked up. But anyway, 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.560 a guy who he's kind of the quintessential super nerd, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:06:59.680 as in, he's a nerd who now is like a 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.320 country unto himself, who's worth like eighty billion dollars or 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.520 something for Africa, whatever it is on paper, it's tens 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:08.000 it's tens of billions of dollars. But let's just put 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.040 aside all that. Let's put aside all the razzle dazzle 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.000 for a second. The fact that he didn't wear his hoodie. 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.120 He wore a suit and tie like a respectable gentleman. 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.800 Why is he doing this? Why is you know, let's 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:22.400 look at the why for a moment. Lets let's take 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:24.240 a step back, because this was the biggest story on 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.600 Capitol Hill today. You know that it's this and it's 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.560 the coin aftermath. Those are the two things that we'll 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:31.720 dig into, both of those in a way you haven't 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.640 heard anywhere else, and that will be I promise you 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:37.440 it'll be worth your time today. Let's start with the why, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.640 ask why? Um The Democrats as I as I was 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.960 mentioning before, they wanted take this story and run with 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:49.480 it because even without having to explicitly remind the viewer 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.880 all the time about this, it's all about Hillary loss 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.800 because of and you know, fill in the blank. Now, 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.320 it's not so much that they love Hillary, as is 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:06.640 that they want an excuse for why they're apparatus was 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.200 unable to get someone elected against Trump, who they clearly 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:14.280 think is some kind of you know, evil monster from 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:19.920 the deep. And then there's also Trump is illegitimate, right, 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:23.320 anything that helped Trump win that was outside the boundaries 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.520 of fair play. Further is the notion among the left 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:30.320 and among Democrats that Trump is not really the president, 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:33.000 which is what at the end of the day, Democrats belief, 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.120 not my president. I remember the marches here in New York, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.920 not my president and not my you know, their march 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:45.000 on the streets. And I was like, actually, actually, as 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.720 your president, you might not like him. He's the president. 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.840 Barack Obama was my president for eight years. Wasn't my choice, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:53.840 but he was my president. It's called reality. I like 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.720 to live in it, right, not my president. I remember 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:01.200 all the marches. So now we look at this, we say, Okay, 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:02.719 we know why the Democrats like this story, and I 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.160 mean the Democrat politicians and also the general media apparatus. 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:08.800 But I just want to focus for for a moment 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.439 here on because because Facebook is incredibly powerful. Look, I 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.720 use Facebook every day. People are all people. Entire business 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.720 huge businesses are built around using Facebook as a platform. 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:21.480 It is a company that in many ways has more 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.200 power over other companies than anything else on the planet, 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:27.160 with the exceptions of Google and Amazon, which are probably 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.600 right up there too. And you can make arguments as 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.960 to which one has the most. I mean, the power 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.280 of life and death over huge companies is in the 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:39.559 hands of these other companies like Amazon and Facebook and 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.240 Google not so much. Twitter. Twitter is kind of the 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.120 runt of the litter with this stuff. Twitter is like, 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.840 for news people to spout off and and you know, 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.840 compare who can be the wittiest or the nastiest depending 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.880 on how you how you catch somebody on any given day. 0:09:55.240 --> 0:10:00.360 Why is Zuckerberg showing up in the horse hair? So 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.040 to speak? How many people even catch that reference? They 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.000 don't teach kids anything in school anymore? Why is is 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.679 Zuckerberg showing up and doing this whole maya culpa I 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.760 always loved by. I've caught a couple of eggers that 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.160 are like showing up for an apologia. I'm like, no, 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:18.200 APOLOGI is not actually a a an apology. It's a 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.439 defense of something. So he's apologizing. He's not doing an apologia. 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:25.880 Like I said, I don't teach kids anything in school anymore. 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.920 But it doesn't make any sense. Really, you don't after 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.199 I mean, it didn't really have to do this. Why 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.520 is he doing it? Why? Why? Why? And when you 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.440 look at the why, you understand that, first of all, 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:41.720 he's not taking any Always be skeptical of someone who's 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.959 saying I take all the blame when they face no consequences. Right, 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.600 it reminds me of who I forget that, Like the 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:53.280 counter terrorisms are pre nine eleven I went around in 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.080 this whole thing about how you know he was the 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.080 first one that took blame for the US government. But 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.400 I mean he didn't actually take any blame. No one 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.200 really blame him for anything. It was just a way 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.160 of grand standing, right, Oh, I take all the blame 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.199 for the failure of nine eleven on my shoulders. Now 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:09.319 you don't, dude, You're just grandstanding. Taking the blame is 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.240 like I resign my commission. I no longer have a paycheck, 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.559 and like, I know there's consequences here that's taken the blame. 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.600 Taking the blame is not when you're out of government, like, oh, 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.200 I could have done more. It's like the equivalent of 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.280 somebody who's like, oh, my biggest weakness is there in 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:27.360 that job interview. My biggest weaknesses, you know what they are, Brandon, 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:29.600 I take too much of a load on my shoulders. 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.320 I shared the credit far too much. I've I've really 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:39.920 got problems. My work ethic is just crazy. I got problems, right, 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:41.880 Look at this, Mark, Mark Zucker, Oh, we should have 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:43.800 done more to police content. We should have done more. 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.320 We should have done more. A couple of things pushing 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.160 this one. This is what is demanded of him. Even 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.920 someone like Mark Zuckerberg, who could retire to his private 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.200 island and go inside the volcano layer and just work 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.320 on like cybernetics for the future that will keep him 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:00.280 living for the next ten thousand years, he could do that. 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.880 He's got that kind of cash. Goals, by the way, 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:08.680 goals hashtag goals. Um. But he also wants to be 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.280 liked by the people that are outraged by the fact 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:16.800 that Hillary Clinton lost, and those people demand some kind 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:20.160 of of sacrifice. Right those people are demanding Wait a second, 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:23.079 Facebook was a problem here. Facebook is supposed Facebook was 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:27.600 supposed to be on their side. There's a particular resentment 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:33.720 among the Democrat media, among the American left for a 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.360 Silicon Valley platform, which they really take on as their 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:42.000 own in their eyes, having been used in any way 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.920 to bring about not just a Republican presidency, but the 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:51.199 Trump presidency. They they want there to be retribution for this, 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.840 and they want someone to make a public show of it. 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:58.560 So that's one phase of this. But there's also some 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:05.600 other stuff. Why zuckerberr. Why is Zuckerberg saying this right now? Um? 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:09.280 What is the purpose for Facebook? What is the purpose 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.360 for the left, What does this mean about the way 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.400 we get information going forward? About censorship of a a possible 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:21.440 monopoly and the breakdown of these companies by government decision 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.400 in the future if and when they don't submit themselves 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:27.600 to regulations. The anti competitive aspect of a company like 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:31.400 Facebook calling for regulations. Oh, there's actually a lot going 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.840 on here that affects That affects a company that, as 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.679 you know, is one of the is changing the way 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.440 we interact with not just each other, but the way 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:42.400 we interact with everything on a day to day basis, 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:47.720 including national political conversation. I mean, you can't even have 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:49.960 a discussion now about a media outlet without well, what's 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.559 our Facebook strategy? So but I will break down all 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.120 these different layers and levels about why this matters not 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.360 just a Facebook, but to all of us. But I'm 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:01.079 gonna need a little mo thomas ours, So stay with 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:08.600 me and I'll be right back. I don't think you 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:13.079 have a monopoly. It certainly doesn't feel like that to me. Okay, 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.880 So one way to regulate a companies through competition through 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:24.120 government regulation, given what's happened here, while we should let 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:28.280 your self regulate, well, Senator, my position is not that 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.440 there should be no regulation. I think the Internet is increasing. 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.320 I think the real question as the Internet becomes more 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.240 important in people's lives is what is the right regulation, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.520 not whether there should be. You, as a company, welcome regulation. 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.280 I think if it's the right regulation, then you think, 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.840 look at that, a company that basically begging for the 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.800 Congress to rights and regulations for them. I mean he's 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.480 not actually begging, but he's he's keeping that door wide open. Yes, 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:01.200 the right regulation. Sure, and you let us see really 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.600 quickly pivot away from the whole notion of a monopoly 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:08.960 and anti competitive practices. Isn't it fascinating, my friends, that 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:11.960 right now you've had this media outrage, I mean, hair 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:14.760 on fire. Oh my gosh, there are coming for us 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:19.400 about a possible merger between Tribune and Sinclair because of 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.200 all the oh my gosh, it's gonna have the stranglehold 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.320 on local local news media. And there are people that 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.920 are trying to oppose that based on the based on 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.720 the possibility of oh my gosh, a a right of 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.080 center viewpoint having more than one national level TV outlet? 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.440 What a what a what a crazy mad Max world 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:42.160 that would be um Meanwhile, Facebook does not have any 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.760 real competition. To say it does is not true. And 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:48.440 yet you're not hear anybody say we should break up 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:53.080 Facebook if they're looking. And there's a whole other discussion 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.200 we how to here abou whether monopoly is even possible 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.920 in the absence of government regulation. There people say, really, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:01.680 the only way monopoly is possible if the government enforces 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.520 a monopoly, and that's a there's a whole other discussion 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:06.920 here that eventually there's always a way within the market too. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.000 No one can actually corner the market unless the government 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.720 is complicit in that. And that's what I think Facebook 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.640 wants to do because the company doesn't have any competition. 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.360 And whether you think companies should be broken up or 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:24.320 not based on size, importance and reach in a certain sector. 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.480 If there is such a thing as a company that 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.400 you know is too big, you know, too big to 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.600 stand forget too big to fail, I think Facebook falls 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:37.120 into the category. So they're trying to get ahead of 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:41.400 this year by one creating a sense of political goodwill 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.640 among Democrats and the Congress that you know that they're 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.600 trying to build political capital here. Yes, yes, we're sorry 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.200 about the Russia stuff. Oh yes, we're so so sorry 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.040 about that. I mean I was picturing, like, does Mark 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.480 Zuckerberg pull a Scrooge McDuck and go back to a 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.760 giant vault just full of gold coins and just swimming 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:02.040 them great cartoon ducktails was awesome. So and I don't know, 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.359 but I mean he actually could if you wanted to. 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.439 That's a whole separate discussion. The point here is just 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.159 they're trying to get ahead of the possible breakup of 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:15.760 Facebook under monopoly concerns and regulation, as you know, is 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:22.600 inherently anti competitive. Because the regulatory caught the burden of regulation, 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.399 he is much heavier on smaller and emerging companies. So 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:28.760 you see what Mark Zuckerberg is doing here is actually 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.520 I give him credit. And the guy, you know, depending 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.600 especially on whose version you believe, he's he's willing to uh, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.080 he's willing to shank people as they say whatn't necessary. 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:43.199 He's willing to take people out of the corporate, corporate, 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.000 competitive world around him. That's how he ended up being CEO. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:51.000 So but the the guy understands and I'm sure all 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.160 of his advisers and his he's got the highest priced 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.960 lawyers than legal advice on the planet understands that he 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.800 goes there, he does a whole maya culpa thing, he 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.720 gets some some uh supportive press, and he goes before 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.160 the Congress, and it's basically saying, yeah, I regulators because 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.360 once the once the government starts regulating them one, if 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.480 you're if you're already regulating them, it's a lot harder 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:14.240 to get the whole momentum going to actually break up 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:15.800 a company. Right, you can say, no, they're all they're 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:18.040 all banging the regulation and they're playing ball with what 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.680 you know, the federal government demands of them. And then 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.320 also if they weren't a monopoly before, they're gonna be 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:28.080 one now because with the regulatory with the regulatory costs 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:32.960 of say having to monitor and edit and censor content alone, 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.720 that's gonna be an enormous burden, enormous challenge going forward. 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.360 And that's just the one other piece of this discussion 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:41.760 I want to have you before we move on to 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:48.320 Cohen lawyer seizure of records and also serio response is 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:02.080 he's holding the line for America. Buck Sexton is back. Well, 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.880 Mr Zuckerberger, I will say there are a great many 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.920 Americans who I think are deeply concerned that that Facebook 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:14.360 and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:19.199 of bias and political censorship. There have been numerous instances 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:23.359 with Facebook. In May of sixteen, Gizmodo reported that Facebook 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:27.479 had purposely and routinely suppressed conservative stories from trending news, 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.320 including stories about cepac, including stories about Mitt Romney, including 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.560 stories about the lowest learner i r S scandal, including 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:39.440 stories about Glenn Beck. In addition to that, Facebook has 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:44.280 initially shut down the Chick fil A Appreciation Day page, 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:48.400 has blocked a post of Fox News Reporter, has blocked 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:53.840 over two dozen Catholic pages, and most recently blocked Trump 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.760 supporters Diamond and Silks page with one point two million 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:01.639 Facebook followers after determining their content and brand were quote 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.760 unsafe to the community. To a great many Americans, that 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:12.320 appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias. Ted Cruise, 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.160 taking the CEO of Facebook to task on the issue 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.520 of censorship. Which is what I was trying The word 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:19.840 I was trying to get out before I was so 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.200 rudely cut off by the hard break that is built 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:25.639 into our system here of the radio show. Um. Sometimes 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:27.119 I think that's the first that that's happened in a a 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:30.000 while where I was just so next I'm gonna tell you, oh, 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.760 and we're out of time. But censorship is the big 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:36.760 issue and the content management component of what's going on 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:40.159 with Facebook. This is huge. This this goes towards the 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.199 way that you're gonna be getting information, uh, in the 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:45.800 years to come, for decades to come. Is it a 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.040 platform or a publisher? The question we need to ask 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.720 about Facebook right Is Facebook in any way endorsing or 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:57.000 verifying the information that's put up by individuals? Are they 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.560 going to separate out what is considered a news or 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.399 a pub is shing u story from what it's just 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:04.560 somebody saying stuff on their own page. I mean, how 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:06.320 are they going to break this down? That's a huge 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:11.760 set of problems they're taking on here, and they're doing 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.200 it in part in response not to the censorship concerned 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:19.880 the politicization concerns of conservatives, but because of the Russia 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.520 Facebook stock puppet account fiasco right with the election. If 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:28.320 Hillary hadn't lost the election, none of these discussions would 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:33.439 be happening right now. Just remember that that conservatives have 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:37.280 been saying for a while now, for years Hey, why 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.640 is it that this person's content seems to get shared 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:42.080 a lot more than mine and I actually have a 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:46.680 much bigger following and much more engaged audience. Why am 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:50.560 I banned or even shadow band as a conservative when, 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:53.119 as we know, that doesn't happen either side, And I 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:57.960 just would would note that on the on the censorship concern. 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:02.840 If this weren't just happy to conservatives, I'm pretty sure 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:07.000 we would hear about some very upset liberals, some some progressives, 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:10.320 and some left wing news sites that would be raising 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:14.040 these problems and concerns. But we don't. We only hear 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:20.359 about it really from right wing conservative sites. Do we 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:22.480 think right wing is pejorative? I was thinking about that today. 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:24.800 I was talking to somebody. We're describing a project we're 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:26.720 working on. We're trying to come up with different taglines, 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:29.439 and said, well, right, I think right wing has become 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:32.920 it's it's not in vogue right now. But I feel 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:34.480 like right wings should be fine to say we see it. 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:35.920 I say left wing, all that was wrong with the 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:39.480 right wing? All right wing? I don't know. I like, 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:42.240 I don't like to let the other side manage the 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.719 terms of debating discussions. So I say things like right wing. Alright, So, 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:48.800 but back to what's going on with Facebook here. Uh, 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:52.159 they clearly have been playing games with this. There's no 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:55.600 question in my mind that the people writing the algorithms 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:57.960 and and you see this even with some of the 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:00.879 open policies about well what's uh, you know, anything that 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:03.560 links to a site that sells guns or anything that 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:07.199 you know. They they have taken political stands openly in 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:11.440 the past, but I think there's a much more pernicious 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:17.200 and a much more problematic practice of using the algorithm 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:23.560 to shape discussion for political ends that's gonna benefit liberals 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:27.159 at the expense of conservatives. That's what I think. I 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:30.000