Meta's Trump dilemma

Hey all, it’s Kurt in Denver. Meta is facing a familiar Trump dilemma, but first…Three things you need to know today:• Sam Altman’s biggest [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey all, it’s Kurt in Denver. Meta is facing a familiar Trump dilemma, but first… Three things you need to know today: • Sam Altman’s biggest personal bet is [on a nuclear fusion startup]( • The entire globe’s IT systems were [interrupted by a cloud glitch]( • The FBI used unreleased tech to access [Trump shooter’s phone]( Here we are again Late last week, Meta revised an old blog post with a small but critical update: Former US President Donald Trump is no longer on thin ice. When Meta Platforms Inc. reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in early 2023, which had been suspended two years prior following the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, the company did so with a major caveat. “In light of his violations, he now also faces heightened penalties for repeat offenses,” the company wrote at the time. A single violation of Meta’s rules – even a relatively benign one – would result in another suspension ranging from one month to two years. [Those “heightened penalties” have now been removed](, meaning Trump suddenly has a lot more leeway online. Meta pointed to a few reasons for this decision. Trump hasn’t broken any rules since being reinstated, the company said. Plus, with the election heating up, Meta wanted to create a level playing field. “We believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis,” the [blog post]( read. One factor that wasn’t acknowledged – but surely must have been considered – was a hypothetical scenario in which Meta was forced to suspend Trump again right before the election over a minor infraction. You can imagine the intense backlash that would have ensued, and we would have almost certainly seen Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg back before Congress in a matter of weeks. I’m sure nobody at the social networking giant wanted to deal with that scenario. So instead, Meta bought itself some flexibility. Trump is still held to the same rulebook as all other users, the company says. But Meta also has a [“newsworthiness allowance”]( that means it will leave up violating content “if it’s newsworthy and if keeping it visible is in the public interest.” Meta judges these posts on a case-by-case basis, but a lot of what Trump posts is inherently newsworthy, which means it’s possible he could now violate Meta’s rules with minimal consequences. Given the former president’s history on these platforms, it doesn’t feel so much a matter of if that happens, but a question of when. We’ve seen it all play out before. During the 2020 election cycle and immediate aftermath, Trump denied the legitimacy of the election results almost daily on Facebook, a barrage that encouraged some 10,000 posts per day from his followers [making the same claims](. Facebook has [rules against repeatedly sharing misinformation]( on the service, but Trump’s account was never meaningfully penalized, presumably because of its newsworthiness. The issue, of course, is that those repeated lies four years ago ultimately contributed to the mood that yielded a riot at the US Capitol. His accounts were eventually suspended, but not until something drastic and violent happened in the real world. Meta and its social media peers, it seems, may have waited too long. So here we are again, approaching a contentious US election with a contentious leading candidate. Which means Meta will undoubtedly face a few important questions. How much runway will it give Trump this time around? And will we again see real-world consequences before any intervention?[Kurt Wagner](mailto:kwagner71@bloomberg.net) The big story Netflix widened its lead in streaming, adding 8 million customers [in the second quarter](. The company’s surge in growth comes while most of its competitors are slowing down, struggling to attract customers and fund new shows. Thursday’s results beat expectations in every region around the world. One to watch Albright Stonebridge Principal Analyst Amy Celico joins Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow to discuss China risks lingering for chip stocks globally and in the US, and what to expect from a potential Trump administration. Get fully charged Microsoft is ripping off Xbox gamers with its Game Pass price hike, [according to the FTC.]( Chip designer Broadcom gained 3% after a report of [talks with OpenAI.]( Samsung has restarted talks with its biggest worker union, which has been [organizing strikes across its chipmaking plants](. Musk’s Starlink has been cleared to operate [in South Sudan.]( OpenAI is rolling out a more affordable, simpler version of [its flagship AI.]( Meta is in talks to take a minority stake in Ray-Ban maker Luxottica as part of its [smart glasses push.]( More from Bloomberg Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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