Meta Curbs Censorship & Trump's Second Term Plans | 1.8.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary: Episode on Meta’s Censorship Changes & Trump’s Second Term Plans (1.8.25)

Release Date: January 8, 2025

---

Introduction

In the latest episode of Morning Wire, hosted by John Bickley and Georgia Howe from The Daily Wire, the discussion centers around significant developments in social media censorship, President Donald Trump’s plans for a second term, and major corporate policy shifts regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The episode delves into how these events reflect broader cultural and political trends in America.

---

Meta’s Shift on Content Moderation

John Bickley opens the discussion by addressing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent announcement to curb censorship on Meta’s platforms, including Facebook. Zuckerberg positions Trump's re-election as a pivotal moment for free speech, criticizing previous content moderation policies as overly restrictive and biased.

• John Bickley (00:03): "Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg vows to curb censorship on his social media platforms, calling Trump's re election a tipping point on free speech."

Georgia Howe inquires about the catalysts behind Meta’s policy changes and their potential impact on public discourse.

• Georgia Howe (00:21): "What led to the change and how could it affect public discourse?"

Megan Basham, Daily Wire’s culture reporter, provides an in-depth analysis, highlighting that Meta's shift is a direct response to the 2024 election results, signaling a demand from the American populace for restored free speech principles. Basham notes Zuckerberg’s commitment to collaborating with President Trump to oppose censorship laws in Europe and criticizes the Biden administration’s previous stance on content moderation.

• Megan Basham (02:32): "He was actually pretty transparent in his announcement that he sees the 2024 election as a message from the American people that this is a new era and that they want to see a return to free speech principles."

Key changes announced by Meta include:

• Community Notes: Introducing crowdsourced fact-checks that add context without removing or demoting content.
• Promotion of Civic Content: Renewed focus on political content to cater to user interests.
• Relocation of Content Moderation Teams: Moving from California to Texas to tap into a less biased talent pool.

Megan emphasizes that Meta’s strategic appointments, such as replacing policy chiefs with conservatives and adding Trump supporters to the board, indicate a deliberate shift towards political balance.

• Megan Basham (04:07): "Zuckerberg's not being shy and publicly trying to ingratiate himself with the new administration."

John raises concerns about past censorship and the demand for accountability, referencing prominent figures like Ben Shapiro and Molly Hemingway who call for sustained commitment to free speech.

---

President Trump’s Second Term Plans

The podcast transitions to President-elect Donald Trump’s press conference, where he outlines his priorities for a potential second term. Hosted by Cabot Phillips, Daily Wire’s Senior Editor, the segment highlights Trump’s key announcements:

1. Business Investments:

   • Trump announces a $20 billion investment from Dubai-based Dimac to build data centers in the Sunbelt and Midwest, emphasizing job creation and economic growth.
   • Hussein Sejuani (Dimac CEO) (06:58): "We've been waiting four years to increase our investments in US."

2. Environmental and Energy Policies:

   • Offshore Drilling Ban Critique: Trump criticizes President Biden’s ban on offshore drilling across 650 million acres, labeling it a hindrance to economic progress.
   • Zuckerberg Interruption (07:42): "Waters, I've been disappointed to see the Biden administration's attempt to block the reforms of the American people."

3. Geopolitical Moves:

   • Renaming the Gulf of Mexico: Proposal to rename it the "Gulf of America" to reflect national identity and territorial claims.

     • Mark Zuckerberg (08:07): "To be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring..."

   • Greenland Acquisition: Reviving interest in acquiring Greenland for strategic and resource-based advantages.

     • Trump’s Son, Don Jr. (09:00): "We're going to treat you well. It's an incredible place..."

Legal Developments: Trump faces sentencing on January 10 for the New York hush money trial involving Stormy Daniels. His legal team is appealing the conviction, citing presidential immunity, but an appeals judge has mandated that sentencing proceeds as scheduled.

• Cabot Phillips (09:42): "He is almost certainly not going to face prison, fines or probation. We'll have to wait until Friday, though, to see the exact details of the sentence."

---

McDonald’s Abandons DEI Initiatives

The episode shifts focus to corporate America's response to the anti-DEI movement, spotlighting McDonald's recent policy reversals.

Amanda Presta Giacomo, Daily Wire reporter, elaborates on McDonald's decision to eliminate DEI initiatives in three key areas:

1. Withdrawal from Third-Party DE Surveys:

   • Ceasing participation in surveys by groups like the Human Rights Campaign to avoid external pressures and boycotts.

2. Abolishing Supply Chain DEI Pledges:

   • Suppliers are no longer mandated to adhere to DEI practices, shifting the focus to inclusion based on business performance.

3. Elimination of Aspirational Representation Goals:

   • Moving away from hiring quotas towards performance-based hiring practices.

• Amanda Presta Giacomo (11:04): "McDonald's said they're going to change three things... eliminate aspirational representation goals."

Robbie Starbucks, a conservative activist, is credited with influencing this shift by targeting high-profile corporations, leading to widespread DEI reversals.

• Megan Basham (12:50): "McDonald's is a huge win because... the more we get these cultural icon brands to change, the more likely it is that other companies change."

Despite the trend, some companies like Costco are contemplating maintaining DEI commitments, pending shareholder votes.

• Amanda Presta Giacomo (14:04): "There are a few. For example, Costco put out a statement last week about their commitment to DEI."

Megan Basham (13:38): "We're going to sniff that out and we are going to make things very difficult for companies to do that."

The conversation underscores a broader anti-DEI movement aimed at reinstating traditional business practices and resisting what proponents view as ideological overreach.

---

Conclusion

The Morning Wire episode provides a comprehensive overview of the shifting landscapes in social media governance, political leadership, and corporate policies. Meta's pivot away from stringent content moderation aligns with emerging political dynamics favoring free speech, while President Trump's second-term agenda reflects a blend of economic initiatives and assertive geopolitical strategies. Concurrently, the retreat from DEI practices by major corporations like McDonald's signals a significant cultural shift influenced by conservative activism.

Listeners are encouraged to stay informed as these developments unfold, shaping the future of American politics, corporate America, and societal norms.

---

Stay tuned to Morning Wire for daily coverage of the latest developments in politics, culture, education, sports, and more.

Transcript

[John Bickley]

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg vows to curb censorship on his social media platforms, calling Trump's re election a tipping point on free speech. What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it's gone too far.

[Georgia Howe]

What led to the change and how could it affect public discourse?

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Editor in Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, January 8th, and this is Morning Wire. Donald Trump holds an extensive and newsworthy press conference outlining his second term priorities.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

We're approaching the dawn of America's golden.

[Georgia Howe]

Age and DEI is off the menu as McDonald's scraps the controversial corporate policy.

[Megan Basham]

The fact that everybody has some sort of connection to McDonald's means that when you see them do something, it feels like there's some extra power behind it.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Brandon]

Hey guys, Producer Brandon here. My sleep in 2024 was awful. Tossing and turning all night, waking up exhausted. That all changed when I found Beam's Dream Powder, a science backed healthy nighttime blend for sleep. Other sleep aids can cause next day grogginess, but Dream contains a powerful all natural blend of Reishi, magnesium, L theanine, apigenin and melatonin to help you fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up refreshed. Try Beam's best selling Dream powder and get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to shopbeam.com wire and use code wire at check that's shop B E A M Wire. Use code wire for up to 40% off.

[John Bickley]

The fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created.

[Georgia Howe]

That was Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing that the company's platforms, including Facebook, will no longer use fact checkers to moderate content.

[John Bickley]

Here with more is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Hey Megan. So the era of heavy handed content policing at Facebook really began after Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Many Democrats and legacy media outlets began pressuring social media companies to crack down on what they called misinformation that carried over to suppressing dissenting views on Covid. And eventually it came out that government agencies were actually pressuring these companies to censor specific users and outlets, including us here at the Daily Wire. Let's start with maybe an obvious question. Is Zuckerberg doing this now simply because of Trump's reelection?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, I would say there's no question that's what he's doing so. You know, he was actually pretty transparent in his announcement that he sees the 2024 election as a message from the American people that this is a new era and that they want to see a return to free speech principles. He said that he plans to work with President Trump to push back on governments in Europe that are passing censorship laws and regulations. And he noted that the Biden administration actually worked against that effort during their tenure. And then he offered something of a mea culpa for letting his platforms become a big part of the problem.

[John Bickley]

We've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship. The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech.

[Megan Basham]

Now, part of that simplification is community notes that allow for crowdsourced fact checks that simply add corrections or context to the bottom of posts rather than removing them or de emphasizing them. Zuckerberg also says that they're going to be promoting civic content again, so political content, because he believes that people do want to see that. And he said that the platforms are also going to get rid of some restrictions on hot button topics like immigration and gender in order to allow more opinions to be expressed. And then this was a really interesting one. He said they'll be moving the content moderation team from California to Texas to help draw from a less biased talent pool.

[John Bickley]

Is there a sense here that this will be part of a broader effort on Meta's part to embrace more political balance?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, I think so. I think what we're seeing, as my kids might call it, is a pretty clear vibe shift from Meta. So first we saw Zuckerberg donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration. And then Meta announced it was replacing its policy chief, Nick Clegg, who previously worked in British politics on the political left, with a known conservative, Joe Kaplan, who just last month appeared at the New York Stock Exchange with Vice President elect J.D. vance. And then this is a biggie. On Monday, Meta announced that major Trump booster Dana White would be joining the board. So with all of this and the community notes announcement pretty clear, Zuckerberg's not being shy and publicly trying to ingratiate himself with the new administration.

[John Bickley]

Yeah. Now, we'd imagine that many individuals and media outlets that Meta has censored are still going to approach Zuckerberg's new position pretty cautiously, correct?

[Megan Basham]

Yes, definitely. And some are saying that, look, this is all well and good, but they do still want to see some real accountability for Meta's past censorship. One example is Daily Wire editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro, who celebrated the prospect of the change that's coming. But he did also stress that we actually need to see more than talk from Meta. A commitment to free speech by social media needs to last longer than whomever is in the office, and that has not been the case. That has not been the case. Zuckerberg acknowledges as much. He acknowledges that Facebook literally changed its standards because of Joe Biden and Democrats in office. Molly Hemingway, editor in chief of the Federalist, also weighed in on X on Tuesday, demanding accountability for what Meta has done over the last eight years.

[John Bickley]

I know a lot of people, including us here at the Daily Wire, are going to be watching very closely to see if Facebook's walk matches its talk. Megan, thanks for reporting.

[Megan Basham]

Anytime. Foreign.

[Brandon]

Business Leaders Are you here to play or are you playing to win? If you're in it to win, meet your next MVP. NetSuite by Oracle NetSuite is your full business management system in one convenience suite. With NetSuite, you're running your accounting, your finance, your HR, your e commerce and more, all from your online dashboard. Upgrade your playbook and make the switch to NetSuite, the number one cloud ERP.

[John Bickley]

Get the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning at netsuite.com morningwire netsuite.com morningwire In a wide ranging press conference on Tuesday, President Elect Trump offered new details on his second term plans ahead of his inauguration in just 12 days.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with the highlights is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips. So Cabot Trump touched on a variety of topics yesterday. What did we see?

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, this is Trump's second press conference since Election Day. Trump, who campaigned on that promise to attract businesses from around the world, announced that Dubai based development company Dimac will be investing $20 billion in the US building new data centers across the Sunbelt and Midwest with American workers. Here's the company's founder and CEO, Hussein Sejuani.

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

We've been waiting four years to increase our investments in US. Now, with his leadership and his open strategy and policy to encourage businesses to.

[Cabot Phillips]

Come to us after that major business announcement, Trump addressed a number of recent moves from President Biden, including his stunning last minute decision to permanently ban offshore drilling across 650 million acres of federal.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

Waters, I've been disappointed to see the Biden administration's attempt to block the reforms of the American people and that they voted for. They told me that we're going to do everything possible to make this transition to the new administration very smooth. It's not smooth.

[Cabot Phillips]

Later on, Trump really set off a Social media firestorm after making this announcement regarding the Gulf of Mexico, we're going.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

To be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, the president floated the idea of acquiring Greenland again. Was he serious?

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. So Trump hinted at that idea during his first term, though it was never really clear how serious he was. But in recent months, he has revived that discussion and by all appearances, is serious. The president posted on Truth Social, quote, greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if and when it becomes part of our nation. We will protect it and cherish it from a very vicious outside world.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

We need Greenland for national security purposes. I've been told that for a long time, long before I even ran. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time now.

[Cabot Phillips]

Those comments came as Trump's son, Don Jr. Made a visit to Greenland, where he met with locals and tort sites, telling supporters there, quote, we're going to treat you well. And it's worth noting, while the idea might sound crazy, there is some historical precedent. Following World War II, for example, Harry Truman attempted to acquire Greenland, offering Denmark $100 million for the island. Andrew Johnson also expressed interest in the plan back in 1867. Now, for those wondering why Greenland, the island's location poses significant strategic advantages and would allow our military an important foothold in the Arctic Circle. And perhaps more importantly, Greenland is rich in natural resources, including rare earth minerals.

[Georgia Howe]

Hmm. So, before we go, this press conference comes amid some very important legal developments for the president. What's the latest on that front?

[Cabot Phillips]

So, for background, Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 10 in the New York hush money trial involving Stormy Daniels. The president's legal team is in the process of appealing that conviction and filed a request Tuesday to delay sentencing until that appeal has gone through. They cited the unprecedented nature of the case and the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity. But within hours of that latest request, a New York appeals judge struck it down, saying the sentencing must proceed on the 10th. While Trump initially faced up to four years in prison, Presiding Judge 1 Merchan has indicated that given the election results, he'll send Trump to a lesser unconditional discharge, meaning he is almost certainly not going to face prison, fines or probation. We'll have to wait until Friday, though, to see the exact details of the sentence.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, hopefully we're almost done with this legal saga. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

[Cabot Phillips]

Anytime.

[Georgia Howe]

Fast food giant McDonald's is the latest corporation to roll back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

[John Bickley]

Here to discuss the reversal and the larger anti DEI trend in corporate America's Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey, Amanda. So McDonald's announced these changes earlier in the week. What exactly did they say they're going to do?

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

So McDonald's said they're going to change three things. First, they're no longer going to participate in third party surveys focused on DE. Previously, McDonald's submitted data to the far left activist group Human Rights Campaign. That group rates companies on their LGBTQ policies. And what you were generally seeing was companies adding DEI type policies to get a perfect score from hrc. The alternative to that was negative attention and often targeted boycotts. McDonald's will also axe its supply chain DEI pledge. That means all of McDonald's suppliers, all those businesses, they no longer have to sign on to DEI practices. Instead, McDonald's says they'll integrate discussions about inclusion with their suppliers as it relates to business performance. So a pretty big downstream effect just right there. And lastly, McDonald's will eliminate what they called aspirational representation goals, which suggests that there'll be a shift in hiring practices with a focus on performance instead of filling what are effectively quotas.

[John Bickley]

All right, so a move away from these race based policies. Why is McDonald's doing this now? What did they say?

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

McDonald's said they made these changes in light of the shifting legal landscape. And they specifically cited the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that found the consideration of race in college admissions at Harvard is in violation of the 14th Amendment. Basically, McDonald's doesn't want legal trouble for racial or sex discrimination. And there's also the specter of potential lawsuits from the incoming Trump administration, which strongly opposes DEI initiatives. But there's another reason for the timing of this change, and that leads us to conservative activist Robby Starbucks. He's been credited with triggering DEI reversals from more than a dozen corporations. Starbucks says he reached out to McDonald's about their woke DEI policies just three days before they came up with their DEI changes.

[Megan Basham]

McDonald's is a huge win because obviously when you look out at the marketplace in the world, there's certain brands that are just so noticeable, everybody knows what it is and they have a feeling associated to it. You've got these other corporations out there that are trying to decide what they're going to do next. And the more we get these cultural icon brands to change, the more likely it is that other companies change.

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

Through investigative work, Starbuck and his team have exposed DEI practices from corporations like Toyota, Nissan, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, Walmart and John Deere, just to name a few. And all of those companies have quickly and publicly backed away from those policies. According to Starbuck, the success of this anti woke movement relies on harnessing the will of the so called silent majority and making themselves silent no more.

[Megan Basham]

This election and before it was really the beginning of an awakening among the silent majority. That being a silent majority is actually kind of a stupid thing to do. You need to be a majority that speaks up or else you feed ground to this tiny minority of people who are frankly just really crazy Marxists.

[John Bickley]

All right, so we've seen more than a dozen corporations move away from these kinds of policies. Are we still seeing some high profile examples of companies sort of doubling down on D. I?

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

Yeah, there are a few. For example, Costco put out a statement last week about their commitment to dei. Some important context though. That statement was made in response to a proposal to evaluate the risk of Costco having DEI initiatives. Shareholders will vote on that next month. So we'll have to see how that vote goes and how Costco proceeds from there. And as for Starbuck, he says he's not stopping until DEI is gone.

[Megan Basham]

I think what you're going to see is companies go into multiple boxes. One will be a total elimination of DEI and the other box will be an attempt to try to save it by renaming it and things along those lines. But we're going to sniff that out and we are going to make things very difficult for companies to do that.

[John Bickley]

Just a few years ago, this would have been hard to imagine this many corporations moving away so publicly from these policies. Amanda, thanks so much for reporting.

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

You're welcome.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news. You need to know.