In response to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s controversial decision to replace third-party fact-checking with community responses on Meta’s platforms, some satirical posters are taking the opportunity to spread disinformation about Zuckerberg himself.
Among the false newsflashes—seemingly written in jest—are accusations that the Facebook co-founder was involved in killing JonBenét Ramsey, Jeffrey Epstein, and President John F. Kennedy.
“Mark zuckerberg killed Jonbenet Ramsey,” one Threads user wrote bluntly.
“Breaking news!!” another user posted on the Meta-owned platform, racking up over 4,500 likes. “New DNA evidence has linked Mark Zuckerberg to the 1996 murder of JonBenét Ramsey!!"
Zuckerberg, who has no actual connection to the famous child pageant queen, would have been 12 years old at the time of the still-unsolved murder.
“And he was standing on the grassy knoll,” another user replied, referring to the park in Dallas where Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, 21 years before Zuckerberg was born.
Another looped in the viral murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, alleging the hit was a contract killer working for Zuckerberg.
"BREAKING NEWS: Accused CEO shooter, Luigi Mangione, cleared of all charges as sources emerge telling us that, in fact, a Cabal-hired contract killer was who did the deed."
That cabal, spearheaded by Zuck, the bit went, was "mad at CEOs for not killing the poor, the hungry, and the disabled fast enough to their liking,”
Another accused Zuckerberg of killing Tom from MySpace.
Over on X, where Elon Musk earlier scrapped most content moderation in favor of community responses, the Australian satire outlet the Chaser had the same idea, posting a series of fake quotes from Zuckerberg.
“To celebrate this win for free speech, we wanted to relive his best quotes,” the Chaser wrote. The thread began with a fake statement from Zuckerberg saying he killed Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex offender and financier whose 2019 death in a New York jail has been the subject of continued conspiracy theories.
Meta’s platforms like Facebook and Threads will no longer crack down on this kind of blatant misinformation after Zuckerberg said third-party fact-checkers are “too politically biased” in a Monday video announcing the changes.
“We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship,” he said.
But so far, the jokes linking Zuckerberg to some of America’s most notorious cold cases and conspiracy theories haven’t been subject to any community notes.
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