Jim DeMint: The Internet Can’t Go the Way of Hollywood

In a recent commentary written for the Daily Signal, Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint explained his decision to accept Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s invitation to meet and discuss recent allegations of bias against conservatives by the social media giant.

He said the “last thing” he wanted to do was “fly across the country for a one-hour meeting,” but there was too much at stake to “sit on the sidelines.” He said the Heritage Foundation’s role is to “do everything we can to improve the flow of accurate and honest information to voters.”

“[W]e had a serious and open discussion about the growing lack of trust with Facebook among conservatives,” he wrote. “I made it clear that Facebook has every right to be as biased as it wants to be as a private company, and conservatives have every right to look elsewhere for social platforms if they feel Facebook is silencing them. But if Facebook promises its users an unbiased platform for the free exchange of ideas—all ideas—then it should keep that promise.”

Like many others who attended the meeting, DeMint said it was a cordial, yet frank, discussion about the issue. Zuckerberg affirmed his commitment to an “unbiased platform” but admitted it had not “perfectly achieved that goal.” And, like the reports from others, DeMint said he felt the Facebook founder and CEO was “genuine.”

Unlike the other assessments of last week’s meeting, however, DeMint laid out what’s at stake, saying conservatives can ill afford to allow the Internet to “go the way of Hollywood.” Freedom in America, he added, is under attack from “big government, big corporations, big government unions and big liberal media.”

“The only hope for saving freedom in America may be the uncontrolled distribution of information to individuals through platforms like Facebook,” he added. “If the Internet goes the way of liberal broadcast and cable media, schools and universities, and Hollywood, our democracy will replaced by speech codes, cries of ‘hate speech!’ for speaking against the prevailing liberal wisdom, and lack of real public debate.”

DeMint said Zuckerberg solicited suggestions from those in attendance, and he said he offered some to the social media developer. Among his suggestions was that Facebook actively hire more conservatives for leadership positions.

“This is not a government mandate, or a ploy to blackmail them into diversity,” he said. “However, Mr. Zuckerberg asked for concrete ways to ensure Facebook equally serve conservatives, and this is certainly one way to achieve it. Outlets like CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post have similarly attempted to alleviate concerns of bias by hiring commentators and reporters with conservative backgrounds over the years.

“No one is expecting—or asking—Facebook to become a conservative organization. However, if Mark Zuckerberg is serious and committed to building an open, transparent and unbiased Internet platform that facilitates the worldwide sharing of relationships, information and ideas, it will be a boon to conservatives and help encourage healthier political debates around the world.  Let’s hope that this frontier of freedom survives and thrives.”