In addition to criticizing Apple, during a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also spoke about the need to return to "masculine energy" in corporate culture, Bloomberg reports.
“Masculine energy I think is good, and obviously society has plenty of that, but I think that corporate culture was really trying to get away from it,” Zuckerberg said in a podcast. “It’s like you want feminine energy, you want masculine energy. I think that that’s all good. But I do think the corporate culture sort of had swung toward being this somewhat more neutered thing.”
Zuckerberg, who has been a fan of mixed martial arts for a couple of years now and even planned to fight Elon Musk in the octagon, said that companies should find a balance between masculine and feminine traits. He also emphasized that he grew up with three sisters and has three daughters, adding that he wants women to succeed in the workplace.
Zuckerberg's comments came amidst a wave of criticism caused by recent changes to Meta's content moderation policy. The company announced the relaxation of moderation on Facebook and Instagram, allowing users to freely express critical views about immigrants, transgender people, and non-binary people.
On Tuesday, Meta also announced the termination of its cooperation with independent fact-checkers in the United States, and on Friday confirmed the reduction of internal diversity and inclusion initiatives.
The moves are seen as part of Meta's broader strategy to align with the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Zuckerberg's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience was his second appearance on the podcast, which has more than 19 million subscribers on YouTube and 15 million on Spotify. The interview sheds light on Zuckerberg's changing political stance.
In recent months, Meta's CEO has been trying to make the company more attractive to the new Trump administration. He had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and plans to attend his inauguration. Meta, like Google and Apple, donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.
Zuckerberg also criticized Joe Biden's administration during the interview, saying that White House officials "yelled and scolded" Meta employees during a discussion about moderating content about Covid-19.
“It was brutal,” Zuckerberg said, adding that the administration has gone beyond its authority by demanding the removal of posts that sow distrust of the government and social media.
“The US government should be defending its companies, not be at the tip of the spear attacking its companies,” Zuckerberg emphasized. He also expressed optimism about Trump's return to the White House: “I think he just wants America to win.”
In a rare press conference on Friday, President Joe Biden expressed disappointment with Meta's recent content moderation decisions, calling them a betrayal of American values.
“It’s just completely contrary to everything America is about. We want to tell the truth. We haven’t always done it as a nation. We want to tell the truth,” Biden said. “And you know, when you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff, it is — anyway, I think it’s really shameful.”
Due to the recent changes in Meta's LGBTQ+ moderation policy and Zuckerberg's controversial statements, the company is facing increasing pressure from employees. Insiders describe the situation as "complete chaos."