- The Washington Times - Thursday, May 19, 2016

Radio host Glenn Beck is accusing fellow conservatives who met Wednesday with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in California of creating a “Salem witch trial”-like atmosphere.

Technology blog Gizmodo recently accused Facebook of skewing its trending news feed to reflect a liberal worldview. An anonymous former employee claimed editors used veto power over Facebook’s algorithm to suppress stories of interest to conservatives.

Mr. Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Vice President Joel Kaplan and board member Peter Thiel met with 17 conservatives at Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters. Attendees who spoke publicly about the meeting said it was productive.

Mr. Beck sounded a more ominous note.

“I sat there looking around and heard things like: 1.) Facebook has a very liberal workforce. … 2.) Maybe Facebook should consider a six-month training program to help their biased and liberal workforce understand and respect conservative opinions and values. 3.) We need to see strong and specific steps to right this wrong. It was like affirmative action for conservatives,” Mr. Beck wrote on his website.

Some of the individuals who attended the event include:

  • Rob Bluey, editor in chief of the website The Daily Signal.
  • Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center.
  • Arthur Brooks, American Enterprise Institute President.
  • Tucker Carlson, Daily Caller founder and “Fox and Friends” co-host.
  • Jenny Beth Martin, Tea Party Patriots CEO.
  • Dana Perino of Fox News’ “The Five.”

Mr. Beck did not single out anyone who contributed to an oppressive atmosphere in the meeting. He also said others appeared to share his general sentiments about the meeting.

“When did conservatives start demanding quotas AND diversity training AND less people from Ivy League Colleges?” the radio host wrote. “I sat there, looking around the room at ’our side’ wondering, ’Who are we?’ Who am I? I want to be very clear — I am not referring to every person in the room. There were probably 25-30 people and a number of them, I believe, felt like I did. But the overall tenor, to me, felt like the Salem Witch Trial: ’Facebook, you must admit that you are screwing us, because if not, it proves you are screwing us.’ What happened to us? When did we become them? When did we become the people who demand the Oscars add black actors based on race?”

Mr. Zuckerberg allegedly said he was aware of problems with the company’s algorithms, but added that engineers are always working to improve the Facebook news feed.

“When I looked into his eyes and his team’s eyes, I believed him and I believed them. I hope I am not proven wrong,” Mr. Beck said.

Mr. Beck’s readers said it was not a good bet to put faith in Mr. Zuckerberg.

“I am waiting for Beck to start gushing ’Peace in our time.’ This meeting was a joke for PR purposes only. Nothing will change,” said one reader.

“Beck butt-kisses these turds but rails against other conservatives over nothing. I worked in Silicon Valley for 20 years. They are not just liberal they are Marxist left-wingers. Want some proof? Look at Googles search page today, honoring a Che/Bin Laden lover,” added another.

The comment was in reference to Google’s decision to spotlight the activism of Yuri Kochiyama, the late Marxist who worked with Malcolm X in the 1960s. She was forced into a Japanese American internment in Arkansas as a young woman during World War II.

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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