Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta has a new board member – Dana White, chairman of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) MMA organization.
The move is said to be an attempt by owner Mark Zuckerberg to flirt with President-elect Donald Trump, who is not only a known UFC fan but also a good friend of White.
In addition to White, industrialist John Elkann and tech investor Charlie Songhurst are also taking seats on the board of Meta – and the three are said to bring “a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the massive opportunities ahead with AI, wearables and the future of human connection“.
– I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board. I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future, commented White.
– I am very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside. There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.
“Restoring freedom of expression”
Meta’s platforms have long been subject to a very extreme form of censorship, where users who accidentally use the wrong phrases or words risk having their posts deleted or accounts suspended.
Nationalists, conservatives and other dissidents who questioned LGBTQ, feminism or mass immigration have been systematically censored on both Instagram and Facebook, and censorship has long been accused of being ideologically motivated.
Now, suddenly, owner Mark Zuckerberg announces that “free speech will be restored” – claiming that it was the media and politicians who forced the censorship. He also admits that Trump’s election win is a factor in the current reversal.
It is worth noting that Dana White and Donald Trump have long been good friends who socialize privately and that the US President-elect is also a big UFC supporter. Many observers therefore believe that the decision to give him a role on Meta’s board is mostly about Zuckerberg desperately wanting to stay on good terms with the president-elect and improve the previously frosty relationship.