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Hey there, Ryan Reynolds here. It's a new year and you know what that means. No, not the diet resolutions. A way for us all to try and do a little bit better than we did last year. And my resolution, unlike big wireless, is to not be a raging and raise the price of wireless on you every chance I get. Give it a try@mintmobile.com switch.
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$45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only. Taxes and fees. Extra speed slower above 40 GB on unlimited. See mintmobile.com for details. I call bullshit on Zuckerberg and I'll tell you why. This is Chris Cuomo. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project. The big news. Mark Zuckerberg says forget the fact checking. Boy oh boy, have we been misled. All my companies are going to get out of the fact checking business and move towards community notes. Elon Musk.
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Can you hear that out there?
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Him being like, I am the king of the world now Zuckerberg wants to be just like Elon. That's how everybody's playing it. That's small ball. I don't really care about Zuckerberg following Musk's lead. Community notes. Is that good? Yeah. Is it a complete fix? Not even close. Look, here's the challenge, okay? And this is something that has been bothering me for a long time and I've been waiting for an opportunity to unpack. Why? And this is it, okay? You have several different things going on that are getting conflated and confused and they need to be pulled apart. What is social media? Social media is the stadium, right? That's what we've always said. And they invite you come here, watch the games, right? And they have basic rules about how you have to behave in the stadium. But they're really not able or responsible or is it fair to say they should be able to control what everybody's doing? The stadium? No, that's why you have police and all these other people who help deal with what happens at a football game or a basketball game or at a baseball game. So that's why they've been insulated by two things of legal construction to help them. One, they're not considered publishers. What's a publisher? I'm a publisher. The Chris Cuomo project is a publisher. News Nation is certainly a publisher. ABC News, you know all that. They're publishers. The Wall Street Journal is a publisher. There are legal standards, there's case law, there's preced there are expected norms and legal standards and practices that can be enforced through litigation. Okay, none of that really applies to the Internet, thanks to section 230 of the Federal code, where they were given a pass on content. Why? Because the early understanding was, well, then we're never gonna really be able to have any of these businesses work because you're gonna hold us responsible for what, some fat guy on a couch? Remember what Donald Trump said is writing in his basement. I have to own it. I'm just creating the stadium, not how people talk to each other within it. I mean, I'll have some rules, but how could I ever police that? Now, here's why I'm saying that facetiously, because you can. How do we know Greg and I are having a conversation? Amrish and I. You and I are having a conversation. All of a sudden I start getting ads about what we were talking about in our conversation on text or email. How odd. How odd. On social media, if I'm having a conversation with somebody, all of a sudden the ads I start to get seem to be somewhat curated by it. And then they start doing some investigation. And what do we see? Well, these businesses know enough to know where to put their ads towards the most provocative clickbait type information and material and content. So they know how to do that, but they don't know what the content is, and they can't make any judgment calls. I say it's bullshit. Okay? This is a guy who said, I want to bring Internet to the world. I want to bring us all together. No, he wants to cash in on it. Okay? I interviewed him early, like 2013, about what Instagram was going to be and before Facebook and before he even made it meta and before he even absorbed the other platforms. I want to bring it to everybody. I want it to be an even playing field. No, you want to cash in. And now you got slapped around a little bit and you're scared it's gonna happen again, so you're capitulating now. Look, there's a side angle on this. Oh, he's kissing up to Trump. This is like the Mar a Lago march that's going on. I don't know. I think that this is bigger than just trying to please Trump, because this idea that everybody who supports Donald Trump or comes from the political right engages in mis and disinformation, that's a bullshit premise. There's a lot of bullshit out there, and it goes all across the political spectrum. All right, now, do I believe that it is over sampled on the right side of the spectrum? Oh, yeah. With digital media, absolutely. This has always Been their home base, and they've been playing victim for 10 years now. It started with Facebook, where all of the big names on Facebook would be from the right fringe. And then as social media platforms came, whether it's Twitter or now it's podcasts or whatever it is, they're all over weighted. Just look at the lists. They're all over weighted to the political right, and yet they play themselves as the victims. Legacy media, mainstream media. Look, this is a hype. This is a bullshit sell to get space in a crowded marketplace. What does that mean, legacy media? Oh, corporate media. Okay, let's break it down, because all of this is involved with the Zuckerberg shit. All right, you know, well, I could easily dismiss what the main argument is. So I hired these fact checkers, and it turned out that they're making it worse, not better. And I blame legacy media and a misplaced social movement. So let me get this straight. You hired people, you came up with the parameters, they shit the bed, and you want to blame everybody else. So would you do that with any other segment of your business? So let's say it's ad sales. You hire your team, they start doing a shitty job, what are you gonna do? Blame the advertisers? Blame the ad market? I mean, seriously, this is such a cop out for him. These are the people that you put in place to do the job. Now you're saying, forget it, we'll just go to Community Notes. Well, is that a complete fix? To me? No. Do I like Community Notes? Yes. Are they always accurate? No. So does it make things better? A little. But it's kind of like the Wikipedia problem. Somebody goes in there, gets established as an editor, however you do that, and now they can just chop up your bio until somebody else fixes it or somebody else comes in. So it's not a complete fix. Now, I actually prepared something about this, okay? I literally wrote it down. That's how much it bothered me. My main angle is that this guy's full of shit. So the people that he appointed to do a job aren't doing it right, and he blames everybody else when he had the same attitude about ad sales. All right, I gave you that part already. People need to see that this term, legacy media is just hype, just like mainstream media. It's playing us and them just to create space in a crowded market. And look, just look at the podcast lists. The idea that the right isn't fairly represented in the media is demonstrably false. They dominate the podcast space. They dominate it. Oh, yeah, but not the big media companies. So it's just balancing it out. I don't believe that. I've been in this business over 25 years. I worked at Fox, I did well. Roger Ailes, you know, went down in disgrace, is now gone. Loved me, didn't want me to leave. I went to ABC News, did well, okay. I then went to cable, I went to cnn, did well, got shit canned, but it wasn't because of my performance. Now I'm at News Nation, which is seen as an independent outlet, but it isn't. It's corporate media, we just do things differently. But it's owned by the largest holder of television stations in the country, nexstar. So I don't know how you get to independent. Just cause it's different doesn't mean it's independent. And that's my point, is that when you look at these legit places and I'm using that word on purpose, why of course, the podcaster who got what may be an email from the guy who did the Vegas bombing, well, he's not sure, but he's gonna read the whole thing anyway, say, well, I can't really vet any of this. Well yeah, you can, but you can't. Cause you're not a reporter. But I'm just gonna read it anyway cuz it's got a lot of enticing stuff about drones. I don't know if any of it's true, I'm not checking any of it. But let's just put it out there. Because we're all the media now. That's good. Oh yeah, Cause I'm getting access to something that may be fake that is gonna warp your ideas about things. Oh, I can take care of myself. No, we can't. We're all susceptible to, to suggestion, especially based on misleading things. Especially when there are things that we want to know about and want to know whether or not they're true. And the idea that legacy media is the problem and digital media is the solution with podcasts, is just absurd. Look, I believe that digital media is absolutely part of the future.
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I'm in it.
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I've been in it for years. I own all this shit, okay? I have no investors, nobody is paying me. Except the ads that I read for you, okay? It's all transparent, it's all me. Nobody tells me what the fuck I can say and how you know, how you know. Nobody else would let me say it that way. So fine, I'm in. I dig it. But I'm a journalist. Not all these people are oh, what's the difference? Everybody's the same. No, they're not. And that's where Zuckerberg is trying to have it both ways. You want to blame the legacy media for chasing after and writing so many stories about mis and disinformation that you've made it impossible to have any trust. Stop allowing so much bullshit on the site. Don't say you don't know how to do it. You are creating the algorithms. You are creating the solutions to what works well and what doesn't. You're deciding what kind of traction I get. You're deciding how many people are going to follow me. You know how to do it, so it's not a can't, it's a won't. And I respect it. But be honest. I don't want to be in this game. It's gotten too tricky for me. It's gotten too personally hazardous. I'm getting beat up too much. I'm just worried about profits. I want to find a way to cash in. That's what I'm really about. I'm not about uniting the world. I'm not about information as power. Because if I were, I would care about the quality of information. What I'm about is profits. And that's fine. But the idea that the Wall Street Journal is part of the problem and some punk in a ski hat with a podcast is the solution is silly and I'll tell you why.
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How? I don't know.
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And I actually researched it and I.
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Still don't get it.
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But it doesn't matter because they know.
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How to do it.
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At Cozy Earth, I like to be responsible about my purchases. And I do like to feel that what I'm doing may help make something I care about a little bit better. They're using bamboo, not the materials that textile companies usually do. And bamboo is highly sustainable. It's not doing anything bad to anything. And it's fast and it's easy for them to use. A better year starts with better sleep. Wrap yourself in Cozy Earth. Please don't wait. Head to cozyearth.com Chris. Use my exclusive code Chris. Up to 40% off. How amazing is that? Cozyearth.com Chris if you get a post purchase survey, please say you heard about Cozy Earth from the Chris Cuomo Project podcast. You guys send me the comments saying thanks. You love the stuff. Tell them support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from AG1. Listen, let's be honest. Most of the resolutions you make for the New year you're not going to keep. This one is easy. It's just one and done. You get your pre orders in with AG1, they're going to come regularly, right to where you want them, one scoop and however you want to drink it and that's it. And just like that, you will do so much to support energy, immunity, digestive regularity and even a healthy mood. AG1 can help with all of that and that's what you need. If you want to live up to any of your resolutions in 2025 this new year, try AG1 for yourself. It's the perfect time to start a new healthy habit. And that's why I've been partnering with AG1 for so long. And I'd love to do more. AG1 is also offering new subscribers a free $76 gift when you sign up.
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What's that?
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It's a welcome kit, a bottle of D3K2 and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure to check out drinkag1.comccp for the Chris Cuomo Project and you will get this offer. That's drinkag1.com CCP to start your new year on a healthier note. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from Everyday Dose. Look, we all want to be better mentally, physically, but our habits don't always.
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Match up with our goals. That's where Everyday Dose comes in. Coffee? Yes, but better.
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Since I started drinking Everyday Dose, I've noticed I can get through my day with this consistent smooth energy. No peaks and valleys. All right, that kind of roller coaster caffeine crash deal.
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I'm big on gut Health. This blend of collagen and mushrooms is like a one two punch for keeping me regular and feeling good taste legit smooth rich coffee flavor Definitely tastes like coffee because it's made with premium roast Arabica coffee extract. Head over to everydaydose.com Chris and you will get 25% off plus five free gifts with your first order including a USB rechargeable frother. Very important changes the drinking experience. Trust me, every month after you get additional amazing free gifts with your order just because you're now part of the team, every month you're going to get Additional amazing free gifts. Go to everydaydose do s e.com and you'll get 25% off plus five free gifts with your first order. The problem with corporate media is what?
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Same problem with Zuckerberg. It's all about profits. Oh, okay. So it's all about profits. Yeah. That's all corporate media is about. Okay. Now two things that will decide the profits. Okay. Your competitive advantage over others. Right. And your goodwill within the space. That's what does it. To deal with those constraints, what do all the companies have? Layers. Standards and practices, vetting. I would have never been able to read you this email and say it may come from him, may not. No one's told me it isn't. We don't get to do that. Why? Cause I may be wrong and it's misleading and it hurts the brand if you do that. So there are standards and practices. I have to have conversations with people all the time about what's going to be on the show. What am I going to say? I have to explain it to Dusty. Dusty has to explain it to Mike Korn, the president of News Nation. He's going to think about it. Is this a legal issue? He's going to call the lawyers, they're going to talk back. They have an ethics review panel and they have all these people been doing the job for decades and decades and they're going to be like, you know what? We never really say things like that before. I think it's a little reckless. Maybe you should say it a different way. And we have these conversations like this all the time. Do you get it wrong? Sure. Do you rush to judgment? Sure. It's all done by human beings. You're gonna have these problems. But the idea that it's better with less checks, with less accountability. You can't even sue these punks the way you can these companies. So this guy goes on, who's like a funny guy, and he decides to tear you in half with all lies and bs. You're going to have some time going after him. And then when you do, what kind of pocket are you going to tap? Sure, he's desperate, trying to get rich. Oh, let's go to that part right now. Because when you sue him, you're not going to get his pocket. Right. Because the corporation probably owns Dick. Right. Because it's a flow through entity. So you're going to have to go after him personally. Good luck with that. And what if he doesn't have any money? How do you get your reputation back? How do you get made Whole. Okay, now. Well, the problem with corporate media is that it's all profits. Oh, okay. But not on the independent side. No, not them. They're doing it for free, right? Oh, no, they're not. Oh. And a lot of them can't get the same advertising base. Why? Oh, because they're so provocative, and a lot of brands want to stay away from them. Ooh, I wonder what that should mean to you. So what do they do to make their money? They have to be provocative. How provocative? And how do we know that it makes a material difference? Oh, I'll tell you how. You had these guys on the right that were putting out stuff that was believed to be so destructive to American dialogue, let's call it not by me, by the way, but by Russian intelligence agents that they started to fund their efforts. No, I do not believe and I do not think it is fair to say that Russia put words or ideas in the mouths of these podcasters. I don't think that's fair. I have not seen that proven anywhere. What I've seen is even worse, that Russia decided to pay these guys to keep doing what they were doing on their own. And the guys did not have the infrastructure or the lack of arrogance to make them insecure about why someone wanted to give them hundreds of thousands of dollars to do what they're already doing from places that they'd never really heard of. So they just took the money. Guess who? Can't do that. Chris Cuomo. Can't do that. Can't do it here. Why? Cause I also work for News Nation. I gotta think about who my sponsors are. I gotta think about where money comes from. I've done one deal. I wanna do a bunch of deals with different things. I believe in cbd. I believe in cannabinoids. I'm using them in my own life. My family uses them. We believe in them. I want to do it. I haven't yet. Why? Got to find the right partner. It doesn't bring controversy onto the brand. And when I'm there with News Nation now, they got to own it. They don't have those kinds of constraints on them. They are all about what's most provocative. Do you really think that there's no coincidence that so many people on the right go after every sacred cow and everything that makes people suspicious of norms? You don't think that that's opportunistic ever? You think that they all just became pocket scientists about COVID They just all became virus specialists. They just all became concerned about the vaccine? They're all libertarian all of a sudden because, boy, that's done really well in America. Remember that great president who was a libertarian? Oh, I know. I mean those senators. Oh, I mean the congressman. Oh, I mean a governor. No, nobody ever. They never do anything. Libertarian is a way of saying, I'm better than you, but I don't do anything with it. So fine. They want to sell themselves that way, that's fine. You like it, great. Consume it. But the idea that it's better because it's unfettered, it's unrestricted, well, maybe it's completely wild and off base and done just to make you believe things that aren't true or aren't fair or aren't complete or. Or aren't accurate. Legacy media. Look, everything that man does is flawed. The idea that a company that is a public company that has review by government competitors in their midst, desperate to see them fail, so that they are constantly qcing them, right, quality checking them, competing against them, checking their stories, trying to find errors, trying to blow you up. That's the nature of this business. Hunter S. Thompson was right. It is uglier than most things. It is a long plastic hallway where pimps and thieves run free and good men die like dogs for no good reason. A money trench dug through the heart of journalism. Fair, fair, fair. But it doesn't get any better when you take away the guardrails, does it? How do we know? Because look at even what happened with this guy in Vegas. You don't know that any of that information is real. You got all these people spun up about what he knows about drones. He didn't even work with the kinds of drones that we're seeing in the air that people are worried about. I mean, look, I believe that things have to get better and I believe that they can. And I believe that there are plenty of problems in the media. And look, I get why many of you will say from time to time, or all the time, I've been part of them, I get it. And you're free to do that. And I signed up for that because there's accountability with what I do. And that's part of being in the media, mainstream media. What do you want to be in the rogue fringe media that nobody knows where they're getting their information or what they do or who's paying them for it. That's better. Come on. I mean, look, when it comes to opinion, that's fine, that's fine. But this has gotta stop. And Zuckerberg, of all people, blaming legacy media for his problems the most corporate, the most craven, the most profit oriented guy. In the midst of all of this, you see him when he testifies. I'm open to regulation. I'm open to it. I'd like you people to give me the answers and figure it out so that I can find ways to make money around what you're telling me to do. And it would be nice for everybody to have the same regulations so that then I don't have to worry about being better than anybody else. Come on, come on. You don't want to fact check, own it. It's too hard. I can't please enough people. And that's what I'm worried about. I'm not worried about being accurate. I'm not worried about being able to say, look, I know how we do what we do, and I stand behind it. And fuck the rest of you. If you don't like it, go somewhere else. He doesn't want to say that. There's a little bit of it. Him kissing up to the new administration and them running roughshod about mis and disinformation. It's absolutely a boogeyman on the right. But I'll tell you what, when Trump is inaugurated and he gets in, guess what they're gonna start saying? Guess what they're gonna start saying? I watched this movie already. As soon as he gets in, everybody who criticizes him is gonna be part of the fringe media that shouldn't be trusted anymore. We lived it the first time. But now digital media is much bigger. Even the same people who are supposedly his boys, right? He's gonna start making choices that inevitably are gonna divide, right? I mean, that's the nature of leadership, right? Even if Trump does the job as fairly as anyone ever has, which he won't, but even if he did, they'll start going after him and then watch how he shits all over those podcasts. Who is this punk guy sitting at a table? He's a comedian. He does. What was he? You'll see. So forget about him as a safe haven. And that goes for you too, Zuckerberg. You think Trump is here to help you? No, he's here to help himself. And if what's on your platform is good for him, fine. And if it isn't, you suck. And that's still gonna be the case. And I'm telling you, this idea that Mark Zuckerberg wants to blame legacy media and this misplaced inclusivity, he says that this social movement has gone too far. Maybe, but that's not your problem. Your problem is Convincing people that your space is worth their money and time and interest, just like mine. And you do that through having material that they find interesting they can trust so that they want more of it. You don't want to do that anymore. You want me to do it for you? You want me to go on your site and kind of crowdsource information? I'll tell you what, if I were the lawmakers, here's what I would do. You want to do community notes, okay, fine. You don't want to be responsible for it, fine. But you should be accountable for it and you should be able to be sued and there should be standards and we should figure it out. Because I don't think you should get a pass because you're not getting a pass on the profits. You just want to pass on the responsibilities that lead to them. And I think that this is just bs.
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Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from Radioactive media business owners CMOs. You gotta plan on growing in 2025, right? There's gonna be a lot of uncertainties this year. But not everything's uncertain, right? One thing for certain, things are going to be different. Why not utilize something reliable and stable for your marketing efforts and tap into the power of podcast and radio reach in the U.S. listen to this. Audio reaches more than 271 million people every week. That's more than social media and digital media combined. My friends at Radioactive Media know the recipe to launch, optimize and scale performance by building compelling audio campaigns which actually work. Their personal approach, knowledge of the medium is unparalleled. They believe in the power of radio so much they even use it themselves. Right here, right now. Text my first name, Chris to 51151 1. Just text Chris to 511511 or go on the web at radioactive media.com text rates may apply. AG1 is one of my favorite partners. The consistency, the constancy, the routine of wellness is fundamental to me. People often think I'm tan. I'm not tan. I got mast cell activation from my long Covid and it makes me very nutrient deficient and I'm very vitamin dependent. And that's why it's so important that I get good balanced supplementation that I can trust and I know will be absorbed this year. Try AG1 for yourself. They're offering new subscribers a free $76 gift when you sign up. What is that for 76? Get a welcome kit, a bottle of D3K2, okay. Which is a very important vitamin combination and ratio that you should look up for yourself 5 free travel packs also in your first box. Make sure to check out drinkag1.com CCP to get this offer, obviously through the Chris Cuomo project. That's drinkag1.com CCP. Get yourself to a better place today.
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Try it. You'll like it. I'll be 100% honest with you. Okay? If I could make the money that I want to make doing just this and my substack, which I'm now just turning into a wellness platform that my wife will probably take over at some point or something, I would not be on anywhere else. I wouldn't work for anybody else. Why? Why would I want to work for somebody else when I can do it myself? Now, do I think that I can do it as well? Well, with whatever I'm covering, yeah. But I won't be able to cover as well as any real organization. They got too many people, they got too much reach, they got too many resources and assets and capabilities. So, no, I'm not gonna be able to cover the world the way CNN can. But whatever. I'm covering my reporting, what I know, my sources, I'm okay a lot more than these guys on digital media. I mean, are you kidding me? They're not reporters. They don't have sources. That's why they go with some sources and they take it from other places and then they package it in an opinion, which is fine. But the idea that they are at an advantage against the Wall Street Journal because they cherry pick every time somebody gets something wrong, like, you know how easy that is to do. How often do they get things wrong? How often do they have truth? They want you to believe that the vaccine that Donald Trump got us faster than we could have ever gotten it otherwise. He says, and everybody seems to agree, the man they voted for and supported for president wound up producing something that's poison. The COVID vaccine kills. The COVID vaccine kills more people than it helped in any way. That's what they want you to believe, and you should have never been forced to take it. Now, by the way, I don't believe you were forced to take it. There was freedom of choice. There wasn't freedom from consequence for those choices. You got the government, Donald Trump, saying, this is what we need to do to do it. And then you think you're gonna get the same access everywhere if you don't do those things. And you don't think that the numbers show that when the vaccine came out and made it into the vulnerable communities, we didn't see a precipitous drop in the cases and in serious illness. It's not even a close call. Now here's the real last point I want to make. All right, Zucker is bullshit. Own your responsibilities, not just the profits, and do not blame people who do the job for you not wanting to do the job. We got to figure out social media, because I'm telling you right now, you and I get duped on social media all the time. Whether it's a girl that my son is showing me that is not real, or something that happened fishing that didn't really happen because it's AI all over the place, or there's information coming out of my face about what you should buy, and it's not me. And I've never heard of the product before. Or all of the subtle suggestions from people who are saying what they know that they heard that's about to happen. That's never true. These are real problems. They have to be solved. We haven't dealt with this challenge before. The marketplace of ideas and media has never been as expansive. It is now. Elon's right. Everybody is part of the media right now, but they're not equally responsible and they're not equally capable of doing the job the right way. You are the media. Now, Elon Musk retweets things that he should not from a responsible perspective on a regular basis. What's going on with both of these guys? Having been at Fort Bragg, by the way, it's called Liberty for the last couple of years, not Bragg. Oh, so what? That's Penny? Yeah, but that's not the kind of mistake I can make. Do you understand? Cuz I got three people who are gonna tell me it's not called Bragg anymore. Where have you been since 2023, Cuomo? Well, I got shit canned in the end of 2020, so you gotta give me a little bit of a break. But yeah, I should have corrected that. See, he doesn't have that guardrail on him. Yeah, but who cares what it's called? Fine, well, how about the suggestion that they were there at the same time they weren't. Well, but they were still both at Fort Bragg. How about not giving you the context that it's the largest hub for our troops in the country and it would be more weird if they had never been through there. And now what do we know? Well, they didn't know each other. There's no connection between the two things, except that more and more people are trying to hurt more and more people in our country. He had it totally wrong by Nature of his suggestion. Do I fault him for it? No. But that's the guy that's the arbiter of truth. That's the guy who's saying we're all the media. Zuckerberg is the same way. And by the way, he's worse than Musk, because least Musk is up front. And I'll be honest, I'll give you a prediction. Musk is gonna get his wings clipped. I'm not saying I like it, I'm not sure. I gotta see what happens and how, but he's not gonna be able to keep talking about things with this kind of suggestion that he speaks for the United States, what we're seeing in the uk, and them starting to go after Trump about being buddies with Musk. As soon as it gets anything less than good for Trump, the relationship is over. I guarantee you that. I've already been surprised that Musk is hung in there when Trump has no use for EVs, and that's a big way that Musk makes money. Ever notice how he never says shit about Trump saying that EVs are the worst things in the world and they shouldn't be made the way they are and you shouldn't have to use them? You notice Musk, the truth teller, has never talked about that in any meaningful way. Wonder why? Because he has his own biases, you see? And that is the problem with one mind owning an entire space. That is the advantage of layers and of different viewpoints that have to be served and satisfied within an organization. The idea that having layers of accountability and vetting and something that can be sued and be held responsible financially, maybe even criminally, depending on what it is, is the problem. No, what Zuckerberg is playing at right now is the problem that he doesn't have to do shit but open up the doors, let all the animals in, and then hope you police yourselves and he gets paid all day long. No, that doesn't work for me. Well, then what's the answer? I don't know. I'm just a guy on digital media, right? I don't have to have the answers, but I know the right questions and I know him blaming legacy media and an inclusive social dynamic that's gone run amok. That's what he blames for him, hiring people who aren't doing the job that he told them to do the way he wants them to do it. That's his excuse. Give me a break. It's bullshit. But it is something that we have to address and we have to think about and it's not going to get better anytime soon. It's going to get worse. Why? Because people know there's money in the space now. Now, I think what will happen, especially on the right, is you're gonna see a better grade of talent getting involved on the right. You're gonna start seeing bigger names in comedy, in entertainment, in thought, in social dialogue, in political dialogue. Entering the fray there and getting podcasts and platforms, whatever. But they're gonna carry with them more of a brand sensitivity than some punk with a snow ski hat on, you know, and they're gonna want people around them to make sure they get things right, because they're gonna care about what people think beyond just what they follow and what they subscribe to. It's gonna matter. Because remember, these guys have nothing to lose. They came in here with nothing. They're not people who worked in politics. They're not people who worked in the news. They haven't been around the world. They don't know the history. They don't have sources. They haven't had to learn what to say and not say say. This is all upside for them. We've made it very easy, but it won't stay this easy. And that's not because there's something sinister going on. It's because there's gonna be selectivity within the marketplace, and people can only scare you so much for so long. And guess who's not gonna be as interested in the scare you business as much anymore? Donald John Trump. And I bet you that once he's in there and these issues start coming up, he's gonna start pointing the finger at the Zuckerbergs and saying, you better figure this out, man. This is your business right now. He's not. Why? Because it's not good for him. But it will be at some point, and that's when he'll start acting. And all these people who think they're pleasing him right now are going to be sorely mistaken. Mr. Zuckerberg, you're supposed to be a genius. You were way out in front with social media. Now you're way behind because you are showing the worst move yet. And how we get to a better place. Community Notes is not your idea. It's somebody else's. Somebody else who isn't really. He isn't really interested in the actuality and the accuracy and the fairness of his platform. He just wanted to balance out what he saw as a crazy lefty advantage, and he's done that. I think the business has taken somewhat of a beating as a result. But that's not my primary concern. The my primary concern is creating a fair platform and getting things right for you and telling you when I got them wrong and correcting them. And everybody's got to be in that business. They all say they are, but they rarely walk the talk. I'm telling you, this Zuckerberg stuff is bullshit. The legacy media and culture are not his problem. His lack of accountability and innovation. Ironic, right? His lack of creativity in figuring out how to do better is his problem. And you will see that exposed very soon. I'm Chris Cuomo. Thank you very much for hearing my take on this. You let me know where you agree or if I'm just angry about it. Thank you for subscribing and following. I'll see you at News Nation every weekday night at 8p Eastern. And if you want to join me on my little I'm sick of being red and flushed and fat and I'm going to take three months and I'm going to show you on a regular basis what I'm eating, how I'm moving and how I'm recovering and what I'm using to do it. And no, nothing's going to involve a needle. I can't handle them. And I. I'm not sold on these GLP drugs. That's my substack. Okay? That's what it's gonna be. And yes, the long Covid stuff is still gonna be there. Cause that's part of my struggle. And I don't know if it's from the vaccine. It doesn't make sense in the timing. I had symptoms before I got vaccinated. So to me it's not about a vaccine injury. I only had those first two shots. I never got boosted. But I am covering what I'm seeing. I am covering my long Covid. There is a conflation and a coordination there of these things. I have some of the best minds in the business helping me. So that's there for you. Be an independent thinker. Be a critical thinker. Don't get owned. Don't get co opted. Don't follow lead. That's what let's get after. It's all about you. Be the master of your own destiny. I'll see you soon.
Summary of "Chris Cuomo on Mark Zuckerberg’s Fact-Checking Controversy"
Episode Title: Chris Cuomo on Mark Zuckerberg’s Fact-Checking Controversy
Release Date: January 9, 2025
Host: Chris Cuomo
Podcast: The Chris Cuomo Project
In this episode, Chris Cuomo delves deep into the recent controversy surrounding Mark Zuckerberg's decision to move away from traditional fact-checking mechanisms on his platforms, notably transitioning towards "Community Notes." Cuomo expresses strong disapproval of Zuckerberg's strategy, labeling it as a departure from responsible content moderation.
Notable Quote:
"I call bullshit on Zuckerberg and I'll tell you why. This is Chris Cuomo."
(00:20)
Cuomo analogizes social media platforms to stadiums where users congregate to consume content, emphasizing that while platforms set basic behavioral rules, they are not responsible for policing every individual action within them. He critiques Zuckerberg’s assertion that his companies will only create community-driven content moderation systems, arguing that this shift overlooks the complexities of effective content oversight.
Notable Quote:
"Social media is the stadium, right? That's what we've always said. And they invite you come here, watch the games, right?"
(03:15)
A significant portion of the discussion centers on Section 230 of the Federal Communications Commission, which grants platforms immunity from liability for user-generated content. Cuomo argues that this legal framework has allowed platforms like Facebook (now Meta) to prioritize profits over the quality and accuracy of information disseminated, leading to rampant misinformation.
Notable Quote:
"They were given a pass on content. Why? Because the early understanding was, well, then we're never gonna really be able to have any of these businesses work..."
(04:30)
Cuomo scrutinizes Zuckerberg's pivot to Community Notes, questioning its efficacy as a replacement for traditional fact-checking. He compares it unfavorably to platforms like Wikipedia, suggesting that while it offers some improvement, it remains incomplete and potentially unreliable.
Notable Quote:
"Community Notes is not a complete fix. To me? No."
(07:45)
Cuomo challenges Zuckerberg's tendency to blame legacy media and social movements for the failures in content moderation. He contends that misinformation is not confined to one side of the political spectrum and criticizes the oversimplification of attributing blame solely to legacy media outlets.
Notable Quote:
"The idea that legacy media is the problem and digital media is the solution with podcasts, is just absurd."
(08:50)
A critical theme throughout the episode is the tension between profit motives and the integrity of information. Cuomo accuses Zuckerberg of prioritizing profits over creating a trustworthy platform, arguing that Zuckerberg’s policies are more about monetization than fostering a well-informed user base.
Notable Quote:
"I'm not about uniting the world. I'm not about information as power. Because if I were, I would care about the quality of information. What I'm about is profits."
(10:00)
Cuomo underscores the importance of accountability and responsibility in media organizations. He contrasts traditional media’s structured oversight with the laissez-faire approach of digital platforms, advocating for more stringent standards and legal accountability for companies like Meta.
Notable Quote:
"When you look at these legit places... why of course, the podcaster who got what may be an email from the guy who did the Vegas bombing... we all know these businesses have standards and practices."
(12:30)
Looking ahead, Cuomo speculates on the future trajectory of digital media, particularly on the right side of the political spectrum. He anticipates an influx of more reputable figures entering digital platforms, bringing with them greater brand sensitivity and a commitment to factual reporting. Moreover, he calls for regulatory measures to ensure accountability and fairness in content moderation.
Notable Quote:
"You gotta plan on growing in 2025, right? There's gonna be a lot of uncertainties this year... One thing for certain, things are going to be different."
(25:01)
In his concluding remarks, Cuomo reaffirms his stance against Zuckerberg’s approach, emphasizing the necessity of responsibility and accountability in shaping the future of social media. He shares personal insights into his struggles with long Covid, intertwining his professional critique with personal anecdotes to underscore the broader implications of misinformation and platform governance.
Notable Quote:
"The legacy media and culture are not his problem. His lack of accountability and innovation. Ironic, right?"
(24:45)
Chris Cuomo's episode offers a comprehensive critique of Mark Zuckerberg's recent policy shifts regarding fact-checking and content moderation. By drawing parallels with traditional media structures and emphasizing the need for accountability, Cuomo presents a compelling argument for re-evaluating how digital platforms manage information in the modern age.
Key Takeaways:
Recommendation:
Listeners seeking a critical analysis of social media governance and the challenges of misinformation will find this episode insightful. Cuomo's blend of personal experience and professional critique provides a nuanced perspective on the evolving landscape of digital media.