Many conservatives are waving off concerns about Facebook manipulating its Trending News feature because it’s a private company. In addition to legal concerns related to the fact the feature was deceptively misrepresented, there is a bigger reason Facebook’s conduct should set off alarm bells: the company has long advocated regulatory changes that could eventually make mandatory for the whole Internet the type of content manipulation that Facebook has been imposing on its own site.
During Obama’s first term, Facebook was a member of the so-called Open Internet Coalition, which included among its members the neo-Marxist group Free Press. The founder of Free Press, Robert McChesney infamously praised Hugo Chavez and suggested that America should emulate his regime’s oppressive media policies, saying: “Aggressive unqualified political dissent is alive and well in the Venezuelan mainstream media, in...
