He questioned Facebook's Zuckerberg, then this SC representative gave him a 'gift'
U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan made sure Mark Zuckerberg didn't leave Washington, D.C., empty-handed.
After grilling the Facebook CEO about Christian and conservative content being blocked on the social network, the South Carolina Republican gave him a copy of the U.S. Constitution.
In return, Zuckerberg gave Duncan a smile as he shook his hand, following his appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. Zuckerberg answered questions in the Senate and House over two days because of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where millions of users had their private information compromised by the political consulting firm.
Rather than grilling Zuckerberg about that issue, Duncan asked him about another issue. He said questions about blocked content on Facebook was the burning issue his constituents in South Carolina's 3rd District wanted to know more about from Zuckerberg.
“I asked my constituents on Facebook last week what they wanted me to question Mark Zuckerberg on during the hearing, and the answer was overwhelmingly about Christian and conservative content being blocked or suppressed on Facebook’s platform," Duncan said on his congressional website. "I, too, have been following these reports and find them extremely troubling. I emphasized to Mr. Zuckerberg how I believe implementing the First Amendment into company policies would be a good start in allowing a more open platform where ideas of all viewpoints can be expressed without suppression."
Zuckerberg said that Facebook doesn't have the same tolerance for extreme groups that is allowed in the First Amendment.
“I think we can all agree that certain content, like terrorist propaganda, should have no place on our network, and the First Amendment, my understanding of it, is that kind of speech is allowed in the world,” Zuckerberg said, indexjournal.com reported. “I just think it’s not the kind of thing we want to spread on the internet.”
At one point, Duncan even suggested that Facebook's algorithms should be neutral, mirroring the First Amendment. It was then that Duncan offered to give Zuckerberg the "gift."
“I’ve got a copy of the Constitution I want to give you at the end of this hearing,” Duncan said, wltx.com reported.
Sure enough, when the hearing was done, Duncan delivered the copy of the Constitution.
" I want to thank Mr. Zuckerberg for his patience in answering the committee’s questions and for also accepting the pocket Constitution that I gave him after the hearing,” said Duncan, adding that Facebook is "an extremely valuable tool," that he uses on a daily basis to interact with constituents.
This story was originally published April 12, 2018 at 1:15 AM with the headline "He questioned Facebook's Zuckerberg, then this SC representative gave him a 'gift'."