Zuckerberg says he’s sorry. Do you forgive him?

Isn’t it interesting how some stories make headlines while others slip quietly under the radar.

Take, for example, the recent arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who is accused of defying government orders to censor content on his platform.

Meanwhile, back in the good ol’ US of A, Mark Zuckerberg casually admits that Meta was pressured—and ultimately complied—with censoring COVID-19 debate and information, and actively manipulating news stories that likely impacted the 2020 election.

These two events paint a stark contrast in how the battle over free speech is unfolding today.

Let’s start with Durov.

Telegram is a platform that prides itself on privacy and freedom of speech. Unlike many tech giants, it has made a point of resisting government demands to hand over data or restrict content. 

For this, Durov has been labeled a criminal, and arrested—charged with a laundry list of illicit activities that his platform allegedly facilitated. It’s hard not to wonder though, if his actual crime was giving people a space to communicate freely outside the prying eyes of Big Brother.

And then there’s Zuckerberg.

Last week, he admitted that Meta—Facebook’s parent company—yielded to government pressure to censor debate and information around COVID-19.

The specifics of this admission are unreal. 

Meta wasn’t just passively removing posts; it was actively shaping the narrative by deciding which voices could be heard and which would be silenced.

At a time when a free exchange of information was vital (one could even say life-or-death), Zuckerberg chose to silence anyone who questioned the government narrative on COVID—to include origin, alternative treatments and therapies, or even discussion about the safety and effectiveness of a yet unproven vaccine.

It’s remarkable how different these two stories are.

One man stands up against government pressure to censor and ends up in jail while another embraces it, and even throws it in our faces with this letter. 

But I guess he says he’s sorry and it won’t happen again, so we should just… forgive him? 

Yeah right!

The struggle for free speech is very much alive, and it’s not just about what’s said or not said—it’s about who gets to decide.

So what does this mean for us? Well, for starters we need to be more vigilant than ever about where we get our information and why mainstream sources promote the things they do.

We should be our own fact-checkers—always asking ourselves who controls the narrative, why this particular narrative is being pushed, and what those in power have to gain by convincing the populace to think a certain way.

We should also try to support platforms and people who resist censorship and push back against those who would silence dissent. Folks like Elon Musk are absolutely in the crosshairs of some very powerful and angry people in Washington.

And, maybe most importantly, we need to teach our kids to value free speech and open debate—to understand that no one (especially not tech moguls, celebrities, talking heads, or politicians) has a monopoly on the truth.

This is why the work we’re doing with the Tuttle Twins is so important.

Our books and curriculum encourage kids and teens to think critically, to ask questions, and to never take the “official story” at face value. Because if we don’t teach the next generation the importance of free and open dialogue, we run the real risk losing it altogether.

And that’s not a world I want for my kids. Heck, it’s not a world I want for myself!

Last year, we wrote The Tuttle Twins Guide to True Conspiracies because after spending several years post-COVID being labeled “conspiracy theorists” for questioning what was so obviously propaganda, I knew it was time to talk about all the times that the conspiracy theorists were right. 

In it, we cover more than twenty proven-true conspiracies that the government actually engaged in to manipulate unsuspecting (and trusting!) Americans into denying the truth of their own observations and suspicions. 

From secreting away Nazi scientists, to manipulating the weather, these stories read like Hollywood plots—except they’re all true!

We’re doing our part to help families feel confident in their ability to discern truth from fiction, and to give them the courage to stand up for what they know is right and true, even when it seems like everyone else is simply going along.

We need to keep this fight alive.

We need to continue to champion freedom wherever and however we can.

Our futures quite literally depend on it.

— Connor

P.S. You can read a sample chapter from True Conspiracies here!