| schema:text
| - A rumor that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended a decision to fly a Confederate flag at Facebook's Menlo Park, California, headquarters circulated online in early January 2025.
We received reader inquiries via emails and searches asking about Zuckerberg and the Confederate flag. For example, readers emailed, "Did Mark Zuckerberg erect a Confederate flag on a Meta-owned building?" "Is it true that Mark Zuckerberg had a Confederate flag flying at his headquarters?" and "Does Mark Zuckerberg support flying a Confederate flag over Facebook headquarters?" Another reader said they saw the rumor on Bluesky, a social media platform.
However, the rumor about Zuckerberg defending a decision to fly a Confederate flag at Facebook's headquarters was not true. The claim originated with a June 15, 2018, article from the long-running satirical publication The Onion.
The Onion and many users reposted this rumor in the days following Meta's Jan. 7, 2025, announcement that the company intended to end its third-party fact-checking program in favor of a "community notes" model similar to Elon Musk's X. As we reported, the company also implemented updates to its hateful-conduct policies, including the removal of guidelines previously prohibiting users from comparing women to "household objects."
CNN reported Meta's announcements about the end of its fact-checking program and updates to its hateful-conduct policies arrived "as the company and its leader have sought to curry favor with Donald Trump and other Republicans ahead of the president-elect's second term, echoing in its announcement longstanding criticisms that Meta was 'censoring' conservative voices."
As we've detailed below, even with The Onion's prominence in publishing satire since 1988, some users' posts showed they believed Zuckerberg truly defended the Confederate flag.
How the Old Rumor Started Once Again
The Onion's 2018 article had the headline, "Mark Zuckerberg Defends Decision To Fly Confederate Flag At Facebook Headquarters." It began:
Claiming that the banner embodied the spirit of the company's values, Mark Zuckerberg defended his controversial decision Friday to fly a Confederate flag at the Facebook headquarters. "Facebook considers itself an open environment that accepts all perspectives, and white nationalism is an important part of the conversation," said Zuckerberg, telling reporters that the Confederate battle flag waving majestically above the company's main campus would give employees and users alike an opportunity to reflect on the brave sacrifices made by the Rebel army during the War of Northern Aggression.
On Jan. 11, 2025, The Onion reposted the 2018 article on its Facebook, Instagram and X accounts, following Meta's and Zuckerberg's announcement about the end of their fact-checking program.
Users Believed The Onion's Story Was True
After The Onion reposted the story, some users jokingly promoted the rumor to make light of Meta's decision to end its fact-checking program. Meanwhile, other users' posts on Bluesky, Facebook and X indicated they believed the story.
For example, one Bluesky user wrote (archived), "Mark Zuckerberg easily defended his decision to fly the Confederate flag at Facebook Headquarters. Zuckerberg is a racist plain and simple. Boycott Facebook. Boycott Meta. Start now #USDemocracy." On Facebook, a user shared (archived) The Onion's article and wrote of Facebook, "If you're still using this as your primary social media platform, consider the impact it is having on the world in which you live. Your attention is their money, power and influence. If you can't leave, make sure you study propaganda and understand how to recognize and respond."
For further reading, Snopes CEO Chris Richmond published his thoughts about the end of Meta's fact-checking program, in part promoting the idea of combining community notes with a paid initiative featuring fact-checkers' contributions. Readers can view his entire letter here.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)