On Friday, January 10, 2025, Mark Zuckerberg gave a long interview to Joe Rogan, a famous podcaster and Donald Trump supporter. During the interview, the founder of Meta made a series of controversial remarks, including assuring that he intended to inject more masculine energy into his company.
Meta’s political shift
In the wake of Zuckerberg’s transformation into a fervent defender of masculinity, Meta has chosen to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. In short, the Menlo Park giant will stop favoring minority-led businesses when choosing its suppliers.
According to an internal Meta memo relayed by Axios, “the term ‘DEI’ has become politically charged, in part because some see it as preferential treatment of certain groups over others.”As reported by our colleagues at the New York Times, Meta has also removed menstrual pad dispensers from the men’s restrooms on its premises. These were intended for transgender employees.
As part of his conservative shift, Mark Zuckerberg has also made the decision to end Meta’s fact-checking program. The firm will now entrust content moderation to the user community, similar to X, the version of Twitter remodeled by Elon Musk. The company also took the opportunity to relax its moderation policy by authorizing Internet users to make "allegations of mental illness or abnormality when they are based on gender or sexual orientation."
These announcements should please Donald Trump. As the inauguration of the new president approaches, Mark Zuckerberg seems to want to get closer to the Republican, who has made freedom of expression one of his priorities. Meta, who banned Donald Trump from Facebook after the storming of the Capitol in 2021, now seems to be adopting a more conciliatory stance towards the new administration, following in the footsteps of Elon Musk and part of Silicon Valley. Mark Zuckerberg also believes that "the recent elections mark a cultural turning point, where freedom of expression is once again becoming a priority".
Zuckerberg criticizes Apple again
Furthermore, Mark Zuckerberg took the opportunity to lambast Apple. Visibly full of masculine energy, the billionaire considered that the Californian giant has not "invented anything great for a while". According to him, Apple's last notable invention is none other than the iPhone:
The creator of Facebook neglects to mention Apple's many successes under Tim Cook, such as the Apple Watch, AirPods or even Macs with an Apple Silicon chip. To reduce its dependence on the iPhone, Apple has also increased its sources of revenue, notably by launching subscription services, such as Apple Music.
Mark Zuckerberg does not miss the opportunity to once again mention the Vision Pro, one of the competitors of its Quest headsets. Here again, the forty-year-old shows his contempt for Apple by reducing the space computer to an accessory "really good for watching movies". This is not the first time that the entrepreneur has attacked the Vision Pro. Last year, he had already estimated that the Vision Pro was the result of too many compromises and that it did not equal the Quest 3.
A story of money and innovation
Above all, the boss of Meta multiplies the criticisms against the economic model of the App Store. As a reminder, the Cupertino giant takes a 30% commission on all purchases made through its store. This policy is a drag on innovation, says Mark Zuckerberg. That’s why he says Apple makes money by “bleeding people dry” and developers.
He says the App Store model is just one example of Apple’s strategy to stifle innovation from other companies. Zuckerberg also gives the example of “AirPods, which are cool”, but which represent how Apple has “completely inhibited the ability of anyone to build something that can connect to the iPhone in the same way.”
The founder of Meta explains that he asked Apple if it was possible to connect his Ray-Ban smart glasses, which have a Bluetooth connection, in the same way as AirPods. All you have to do is place the headphones next to an iPhone to create a stable and smooth wireless connection. Unsurprisingly, Apple refused for security reasons. For Zuckerberg, this is an excuse to help Apple maintain total control over its products. Finally, the billionaire prophesied the fall of Apple. According to him, Tim Cook's group will end up being "beaten by someone" because of its lack of innovation. He expects Apple's debacle to happen sooner rather than later...
Coming from the founder of Meta, the criticism seems a bit paradoxical. Indeed, the group at the head of Facebook has always relied on a strategy aimed at stifling all attempts at competition. Mark Zuckerberg’s empire has indeed made a habit of buying up all the companies that could pose a threat, such as Instagram or WhatsApp. Furthermore, Meta has also made a name for itself by imitating the competition, for example with Threads, a shameless copy of X.
Unlike Meta, Apple has no intention of ending its diversity programs. Apple’s board of directors has in fact voted against a shareholder proposal to bury the programs in the wake of Trump’s election.
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