Bloomberg/Getty

Mark Zuckerberg's riskiest bet

Moving the Market: Mark Zuckerberg has banned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and other controversial public figures from Facebook services for promoting violence and hate.

• Right-wing activists Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Paul Joseph Watson, Paul Nehlen and the Infowars website were also banned.

The big picture: This is Facebook's most high-profile effort to date to police speech, and a radical departure from Zuckerberg's belief that the social network is a content-agnostic "platform."

• Until now, Facebook banned specific posts rather than users.

• Less than a year ago, the company publicly advocated against banning pages "for sharing conspiracy theories or false news."

• The change in policy raises questions about Facebook's influence over public dialogue and the quixotic task of consistently policing speech.

That, and: Facebook's decision to ban specific individuals makes it vulnerable to the same problems Spotify faced last year when it punished R. Kelly amid mounting criticism over his alleged history of sexual abuse.

• Spotify had initially said it would to stop promoting Kelly's music because he had promoted “hate content" and engaged in "hateful conduct."

• It reversed course three weeks later because "the language was too vague," and would arguably have required Spotify to stop promoting hundreds if not thousands of artists.

• Facebook's decision this week could similarly force a national debate over who should be banned under Facebook policy, wherein the seven names chosen so far will serve as precedent.

The bigger picture: Facebook and Silicon Valley's other social media giants have been given unprecedented power to police speech and banish people from the public square, a task historically left up to elected lawmakers.

• It's actually in Zuckerberg's interest to change this, so that Facebook no longer bears the brunt of deciding what is and isn't acceptable speech.

• He knows it, too: "Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree," he wrote in March. "I’ve come to believe that we shouldn’t make so many important decisions about speech on our own."

Bloomberg/Getty

Jack Dorsey, wellness guru

Big in the Bay: Jack Dorsey is "Silicon Valley’s answer to the mega-influencer Gwyneth Paltrow," NYT's Nellie Bowles declares. "The lithe, 42-year-old tech founder has become a one-man Goop."

• "For 10 days a year, he sits in silence at a meditation retreat."

• "Before getting dressed each morning, he experiments with using his home infrared sauna and then an ice bath."

• "He walks five miles to work."

• "He eats one meal a day and has said that on the weekends when he fasts from Friday to Saturday, 'time slows down.'"

• "He talks about starting each morning with salt juice — water mixed with Himalayan salt and lemon."

The big picture: "Just as an endorsement from Ms. Paltrow can make even the most spurious self-help objects instantly covetable, an endorsement from Mr. Dorsey can put products out of stock for weeks."

• The bigger picture: To his followers, this monastic, pensive leader is a better direction for Silicon Valley" than the cult hero Elon Musk and his "brash hyper-masculinity."

⛰ Rally the Market ⛰

Daily meditation: Spend a few minutes with these images from Alexandre Manuel Viegas, my favorite of all the Instagram accounts that you guys recommended in response to Wednesday's survey.

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Sinclair lands Disney RSNs

Talk of TV Land: Sinclair Broadcast chief Chris Ripley has reached a deal to acquire 21 regional sports networks from Disney, making him the most powerful figure in local TV, WSJ's Joe Flint reports.

• The price tag: More than $10 billion.

The big picture: "For Sinclair, which already is the nation’s biggest owner of local television stations, the acquisition would instantly make it a force in cable programming."

• Sinclair has also reached a $3.5 billion deal with the New York Yankees to acquire the YES Network.

• It also struck a deal with the Chicago Cubs to launch a new regional sports network in Chicago.

All told, these deals will give Sinclair control of regional sports networks in the nation's three biggest markets — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — as well as markets like Dallas, Cleveland, Detroit and Kansas City.

SOPA Images/ Getty

The Athletic to launch video

Market exclusive: The Athletic, the subscription-based sports news start-up that has raised about $70 million in venture capital, is getting into the original video business, its chief executive Alex Mather tells me.

• The Athletic will launch original video on May 8 and release videos every week in various formats, including multi-part series.

• The videos will come from more than a dozen independent producers with experience at places like NBC Sports, CBS Sports and ESPN.

• The videos will be exclusive to subscribers and live behind the paywall, like the vast majority of The Athletic's written content.

The big picture: The Athletic has been poaching local sports reporters from newspapers across the country — it now covers 47 markets — in an effort to replace the local sports page. Now it's making a run on sports television.

• What's next: Original video lays the groundwork for Athletic shows that could one day be licensed to streaming services like, say, HBO or Quibi, just as Axios launched its own HBO show.

• Mather to the Market: “We're a company that has found tremendous success telling stories," he says. "Now [subscribers] can experience The Athletic’s storytelling by reading, listening, and watching."

Bonus... Get to know the Athletic investors: Courtside Ventures, Evolution Media, Founders Fund, Bedrock Capital, Comcast Ventures, The Chernin Group, Luminari, Advancit and LionTree, to name just a few.

Market Links

• Ren Zhengfei passes Apple in smartphone market (Bloomberg)

• Guru Gowrappan puts Verizon's Tumblr up for sale (WSJ)

• Susan Wojcicki frees up YouTube's original content (Deadline)

• Doug McMillon launches a Walmart video ad network (AdAge)

• Erik Feig launches new media company Picturestart (Variety)

Bloomberg/Getty

Peter Rice wins 'Bones' war

Talk of Tinseltown: Fox-turned-Disney executives Peter Rice and Dana Walden will not have to pay $128 million in damages to the stars and producers of “Bones" after a judge dismissed an arbitrator's earlier ruling.

• Rice and Walden had been accused of withholding money from the show's staff and giving false testimony, charges that cast a pall on their otherwise seamless transition from Fox to Disney.

Bloomberg/Getty

Gayle King takes CBS

Talk of Midtown: Gayle King has finalized an estimated $11 million pay package at CBS News and is expected to serve as lead anchor of CBS This Morning, cementing her status as the face of the network's news division, my colleague Claire Atkinson reports.

• Meanwhile, Norah O'Donnell and John Dickerson may be replaced by weekend co-host Anthony Mason and correspondent Tony Dokoupil.

• "O'Donnell, who has long harbored ambitions to be anchor of 'CBS Evening News,' is currently negotiating for that role."

• "The changes come as the network's new president, Susan Zirinsky, attempts to rejuvenate the beleaguered news division."

The big picture: The moves confirm how essential King is seen to be to the future success of CBS News.

• What's next, via Atkinson:"CBS News will unveil a host of changes all at once during the network's annual presentation of its fall lineup, scheduled for May 15."

What next: The weekend and the Kentucky Derby.🐎 Here are your odds; here's how you make a Mint Julep.

See you next Monday, May 13.