Takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg's Interview with Joe Rogan

I’ve been listening to the Joe Rogan podcast sporadically since the election, mainly because I think it’s important to understand what the loudest voice on that side of the political spectrum is saying.

Some people, however, have cautioned me against it, worried I might somehow be “brainwashed” by Rogan. Let me assure you: the more you listen to Joe Rogan, the less plausible that fear becomes. The man is profoundly, almost impressively, dumb. It is staggering how uninformed he is. The show largely consists of Rogan parroting something absurd he read online, his producer correcting him, and Rogan doubling down anyway. Just this week, he fell for a parody RT article claiming Dick Cheney was dead. When his producer pointed out it was fake, Rogan lamented how unreliable the Internet is—a complaint he frequently makes before immediately recycling more nonsense he found online. Moments later, he speculated that government elites like Cheney have access to harvested organs for periodic replacement surgeries.

The stupidity is staggering. For instance, earlier in the week, Rogan and Mel Gibson (now radiating full-on crackpot energy) promoted ivermectin and methylene blue as treatments for cancer. Gibson even claimed that three of his friends with stage four cancer recovered after using horse dewormer and industrial dye. And Rogan was just like, “The government is hiding known cures from us!” He is skeptical of vaccines but has no issue with using industrial dye to treat cancer.

The Zuckerberg episode was equally maddening, albeit for different reasons. Zuckerberg is a soulless corporate automaton devoid of moral fiber, but he’s undeniably smart. Rogan, on the other hand, is not. He lacks the intellectual capacity to challenge a smart guest and often admits he’s no expert — except, as he says, in comedy and MMA. His solution? Bring in “experts,” most of whom are conspiracy theorists, to educate him.

Zuckerberg’s appearance seemed like an attempt to justify Meta’s new moderation policies, though why he thought Rogan’s audience — largely Reddit and X enthusiasts — was the right crowd remains unclear, except for the size of the platform and Rogan’s reputation for softball questions. When Zuckerberg wasn’t hyping MMA, Dana White, or bow-and-arrow hunting (the new billionaire’s pastime, apparently), he explained his rationale for Meta’s moderation guidelines.

Rogan, predictably, couldn’t keep up. He fixated on why Facebook doesn’t allow sock puppet accounts so users can anonymously harass people without risking their jobs. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg essentially argued that earlier moderation efforts were a response to institutional pressures after the 2016 election and during the pandemic.

When Rogan pressed him on who applied this “pressure,” Zuckerberg pointed to the Biden Administration. Here’s the thing: I don’t believe any administration—Biden’s or otherwise—should pressure private companies to censor speech. The government has no business pushing Facebook to filter content critical of vaccines, masks, or lockdowns.

But also, after the 2016 election, the Trump Administration was in charge—not Biden’s. The first lockdowns, mask mandates, and Operation Warp Speed (which produced the vaccines) all came under Trump. Biden didn’t take office until 10 months into the pandemic. So what is Zuckerberg even talking about? This is why the Twitter Files unraveled so quickly: The only evidence they could find of governmental pressure came from the first Trump administration.

It wasn’t government pressure that Meta bowed to. Zuckerberg caved to the social and cultural demands of the moment. Users drove those moderation policies then, just as they do now. The difference is the current pressure comes from the incoming administration, not liberals wielding their cultural capital.

Meanwhile, Rogan’s fixation on Democrats and “election interference” is beyond absurd. He often rails against the influence of money in politics — I agree — but he only seems to think it’s a problem for Democrats. This is despite his buddy Elon Musk spending over $150 million to help Trump and leveraging his social media platform to push Republican candidates. The hypocrisy would be astounding if Rogan were capable of seeing it. But, again, he’s breathtakingly stupid.

Ultimately, it’s painfully obvious these moderation decisions are about currying favor with Trump. Zuckerberg’s appearance on Rogan’s show was less about ideology and more about protecting Meta. He essentially begged the U.S. government to back Big Tech, warning that failing to do so would let China and other nations surpass us. The pitch? Stop regulating us because our success is your success. It all reeks of a Quid Rogan Quo.