It has been revealed that top executives at Facebook and Twitter donated thousands of dollars to the Joe Biden presidential campaign. The donations are registered in the Federal Election Commission records and were later reported on by Fox News.
The donations have been criticised by some who have suggested that it shows that those working for the social-media giants are not apolitical or unbiased. No top executives from these companies donated to the Trump campaign, though two less-senior Facebook team members did. The fact that these executives have donated to a political candidate could be seen as unfair by some, as these companies have a huge capacity to influence public opinion and to either silence, or give a louder voice to, certain political figures should they so choose.
Among those who donated to the Biden campaign are Facebook chief revenue officer, David Fischer, Facebook vice president of public policy, Erin Egan, and Facebook's chief financial officer, David Wehner. Vice president of Twitter, Matt Derella, also donated, as did Twitter's senior director, Ryan Oliver, and senior director of product management, James Kelm.
Trenton Kennedy, a spokesperson for Twitter, responded to the allegations of potential bias to Fox News, saying:
"We have stated many times – that we enforce the Twitter rules judiciously and impartially for everyone on our service. Political ideology – especially that of our employees – plays no part in this process."
The donations were revealed as the FBI continued an investigation into president-elect Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden. The investigation is related to Hunter Biden's business dealings. Both Facebook and Twitter had suppressed this story regarding Hunter Biden's alleged misconduct in October, prior to the presidential election. Supporters of Donald Trump claim the suppression of the story on Facebook and Twitter was a clear attempt to sway the campaign in favour of the Democratic nominee.
Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign communications director, said:
"The Silicon Valley mafia was always in the tank for Joe Biden and everyone knew it. It's why they blocked the sharing of the Hunter Biden story, to protect their boy Joe Biden. That was election interference, plain and simple, while they also targeted President Trump and other Republicans with censorship. So it should surprise no one that they have also showered money on him."
These latest revelations come as the Federal Trade Commission launched a legal bid to have Facebook broken-up for anti-competitive practices. The attorney generals of 48 states have also filed separate lawsuits demanding greater oversight of Facebook.
COMMENTS