A lawyer has ended his relationship with Meta, citing concerns over Zuckerberg’s recent policy shifts and their alignment with controversial views.
Lemley was representing Meta in a copyright case involving comedian Sarah Silverman and others. They were suing Meta over claims that the Llama AI model used their books without permission. While he supports Meta in that case, he just can’t stick around anymore.
He also mentioned he’s stepping back from using some Meta products. He deactivated his Threads account because he doesn’t want to support a platform that feels like a copy of Twitter. Plus, he’s done with buying stuff from ads on Facebook and Instagram.
Lemley values his connections on Facebook but is seriously considering quitting. He’s a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and works on cases related to intellectual property and internet law.
Zuckerberg has been making some big changes at Meta lately, like getting rid of third-party fact-checking in the U.S. and cutting back on diversity initiatives. He even mentioned needing more “masculine energy” in the corporate culture, which has raised eyebrows.
These shifts seem to echo the moves made by Elon Musk at Tesla and X. Musk has been vocal against diversity efforts and has shown support for right-leaning politics. It’s interesting to see how Zuckerberg’s approach to politics is changing, especially with his past criticisms of Trump.
In 2020, Zuckerberg was pretty clear about his disapproval of Trump’s rhetoric, but now Meta has even donated to Trump’s inauguration fund. It’s a whole new ball game for Zuckerberg and Meta.
