UFC boss is already shaping Meta's 'masculine' future
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Ultimate Fighting Championship head honcho Dana White revealed that he’s already made changes to Meta since taking a seat on its board of directors last month. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, White said that he has already “had some situations” that he has “dealt with” since January. While the board of directors is expected to meet in person for the first time this month—suggesting more changes are to come—White shared that they’ve already started hashing it out over Zoom meetings. “I know what my role is there,” he told Carlson. White is notoriously anti-censorship. In his own realm of UFC, he had to address a recent controversy over mixed martial arts fighter Bryce Mitchell, who called Hitler a “good guy” during a podcast appearance. While White condemned Mitchell’s statements during a press briefing, he did not take punitive action against the fighter. And in the political ring, White—like Zuckerberg—has a noticeable stake in President Donald Trump’s administration. While White has been friends with Trump for decades, his alliance with Zuckerberg is newer and more unexpected. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg The freshly permed Zuck, who said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he wants companies to have more “masculine” energy, has been making changes to his social media empire that appear to gain the favor of the Right. These remarks, along with White’s addition to Meta’s board of directors, all seem to coincide with the massive changes announced at the company. In other words, the timing seems to suggest that UFC’s anti-censorship boss might have also had a say in Meta’s slashing of its independent fact checkers, who were once used to fight off troves of misinformation during elections and COVID-19. However, in a turn of events, Zuckerberg announced that he felt the fact checkers were “too politically biased.” “We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more,” he added. In the same breath, Zuck killed Meta’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which was a popular move for companies following Trump’s return to office, and declared that he’s moving Meta’s headquarters to Texas—where Elon Musk’s empire also lives. But why would Zuckerberg, who campaigned so hard against Trump eight years ago, shift the tides now? While there’s no definitive answer, it could have something to do with Zuckerberg’s pending Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over his 2014 purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp. As of November 2024, Zuckerberg is set to go to trial for overpaying for the two apps to shut out competition. But with Trump on his side, he might have some luck. Zuckerberg also had reasons to cozy up to Trump, given their newly settled lawsuit, in which Meta paid Trump $25 million for suspending his Meta accounts following the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. As for the future of Meta, it will surely be interesting—and terrifying—to see how it all plays out with the likes of White calling the shots. Daily Kos is on Bluesky! We’ve made it easy for you to join us with the Daily Kos Bluesky Starter Pack. Click this link to follow Daily Kos and start curating your lists.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/7/2301480/-UFC-boss-is-already-shaping-Meta-s-masculine-future?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main
Ultimate Fighting Championship head honcho Dana White revealed that he’s already made changes to Meta since taking a seat on its board of directors last month. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, White said that he has already “had some situations” that he has “dealt with” since January. While the board of directors is expected to meet in person for the first time this month—suggesting more changes are to come—White shared that they’ve already started hashing it out over Zoom meetings. “I know what my role is there,” he told Carlson. White is notoriously anti-censorship. In his own realm of UFC, he had to address a recent controversy over mixed martial arts fighter Bryce Mitchell, who called Hitler a “good guy” during a podcast appearance. While White condemned Mitchell’s statements during a press briefing, he did not take punitive action against the fighter. And in the political ring, White—like Zuckerberg—has a noticeable stake in President Donald Trump’s administration. While White has been friends with Trump for decades, his alliance with Zuckerberg is newer and more unexpected. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg The freshly permed Zuck, who said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he wants companies to have more “masculine” energy, has been making changes to his social media empire that appear to gain the favor of the Right. These remarks, along with White’s addition to Meta’s board of directors, all seem to coincide with the massive changes announced at the company. In other words, the timing seems to suggest that UFC’s anti-censorship boss might have also had a say in Meta’s slashing of its independent fact checkers, who were once used to fight off troves of misinformation during elections and COVID-19. However, in a turn of events, Zuckerberg announced that he felt the fact checkers were “too politically biased.” “We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more,” he added. In the same breath, Zuck killed Meta’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which was a popular move for companies following Trump’s return to office, and declared that he’s moving Meta’s headquarters to Texas—where Elon Musk’s empire also lives. But why would Zuckerberg, who campaigned so hard against Trump eight years ago, shift the tides now? While there’s no definitive answer, it could have something to do with Zuckerberg’s pending Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over his 2014 purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp. As of November 2024, Zuckerberg is set to go to trial for overpaying for the two apps to shut out competition. But with Trump on his side, he might have some luck. Zuckerberg also had reasons to cozy up to Trump, given their newly settled lawsuit, in which Meta paid Trump $25 million for suspending his Meta accounts following the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. As for the future of Meta, it will surely be interesting—and terrifying—to see how it all plays out with the likes of White calling the shots. Daily Kos is on Bluesky! We’ve made it easy for you to join us with the Daily Kos Bluesky Starter Pack. Click this link to follow Daily Kos and start curating your lists.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/7/2301480/-UFC-boss-is-already-shaping-Meta-s-masculine-future?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main