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As CEO Mark Zuckerberg defends Facebook against accusations of anti-conservative bias, the company’s political action committee has given more money to Republicans than Democrats running for federal office, according to an analysis by MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization. On Wednesday, Zuckerberg met with 17 conservatives, including radio host Glenn Beck, Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump campaign aide Barry Bennett and Arthur Brooks, president of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The brouhaha began after a report from Gizmodo saying that contractors working on the social network’s “Trending Topics” feature suppressed stories from conservative media outlets from appearing on its influential “Trending” news section. The claims were made by a former contractor, who was described as politically conservative and who worked with Facebook. Facebook strongly denied the allegations, leading up to Zuckerberg’s meeting with conservative voices. Zuckerberg says his company is conducting a full investigation but so far has found no evidence that the report is true. The Facebook PAC was founded in 2011 “to give employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process.” Since 2011, the PAC has given $477,500 to Republican candidates, including John Boehner and Paul Ryan, and $425,500 to Democrats running for federal office, including John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi, according to MapLight’s analysis of data from the Center For Responsive Politics. So far in the 2016 election cycle , the PAC has given more money to Republicans in both houses of Congress. The PAC has supported one presidential candidate, giving $4,000 to Marco Rubio’s 2016 campaign. It’s also given to other PACs and party committees, contributing $54,000 to Republican groups and $55,000 to Democratic groups, MapLight said. Zuckerberg has contributed $25,000 to Facebook’s PAC. Zuckerberg has also contributed $15,600 to Democratic candidates for federal office and $13,000 to Republican candidates. He has given $10,000 to San Francisco’s Democratic County Central Committee. Facebook stock, meanwhile, is trading near record highs after breaking out April 28 at a 117.09 buy point. Shares were down 1%, near 116, in midday trading in the stock market today . Shares touched a record high of 121.08 one week ago and broke out of a cup-with-handle base at 117.09 on April 28. It is an IBD Leaderboard stock. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News