Hollywood actor Jesse Eisenberg slams Mark Zuckerberg’s decisions on Facebook fact-checker rollback

Academy Award-nominated Hollywood actor Jesse Eisenberg, best known for playing Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, has distanced himself from the Meta CEO, voicing concerns over recent decisions made by the tech giant.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Eisenberg said he no longer wants to be “associated with someone like that,” criticising Zuckerberg’s recent move to remove independent fact-checkers from Facebook and Instagram.

“It’s like this guy is … doing things that are problematic, taking away fact-checking,” Eisenberg told the program. “[There are] safety concerns. Making people who are already threatened in the world more threatened.”

Last month, Meta announced it would discontinue the use of independent fact-checkers across its social media platforms and instead implement “community notes,” a system similar to that used by X (formerly Twitter), where users can challenge the accuracy of posts.

Zuckerberg defended the change, arguing that third-party moderators were “too politically biased” and that Meta needed to return to its “roots around free expression.”

The move aligns with efforts by Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley leaders to improve relations with former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had previously criticised Meta’s fact-checking policies as censorship against right-wing voices.

Following the policy shift, Trump praised Zuckerberg’s decision. The Meta CEO, along with X owner Elon Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, attended Trump’s recent inauguration.

Eisenberg, who is currently promoting his Oscar-nominated film A Real Pain, voiced deep concerns over the power tech billionaires hold in shaping public discourse.

“These people have billions upon billions of dollars, like more money than any human person has ever amassed, and what are they doing with it?” he said. “Oh, they’re doing it to curry favor ...”

The actor added that his views go beyond his past role as Zuckerberg in The Social Network.

“I think of it as somebody who is married to a woman who teaches disability justice in New York, and lives for her students … [their lives] are going to get a little harder this year.”