In a bold admission, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has disclosed that senior officials from the Biden administration repeatedly pressured his company to censor content related to COVID-19 during the pandemic.
In a letter addressed to U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Zuckerberg detailed how the Biden administration’s influence led to the removal of certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, from Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms owned by Meta. The letter, dated August 26, 2024, marks a significant moment in the ongoing debate over free speech, content moderation and government intervention on social media platforms.
Mark Zuckerberg just admitted three things:
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) August 26, 2024
1. Biden-Harris Admin "pressured" Facebook to censor Americans.
2. Facebook censored Americans.
3. Facebook throttled the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Big win for free speech. pic.twitter.com/ALlbZd9l6K
Government Pressure and Regret
Zuckerberg acknowledged that in 2021, Meta faced consistent pressure from the Biden administration to censor specific content regarding the pandemic. He stated that senior officials from the White House were particularly insistent, expressing frustration when Meta’s teams resisted these demands.
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree”, Zuckerberg wrote.
He expressed regret for not being more outspoken about the pressure at the time, admitting that some decisions made under this pressure would likely not have been made if they had more information or hindsight.
“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret we were not more outspoken about it”, Zuckerberg added.
A Stand for Future Content Moderation
Zuckerberg assured that Meta would not follow the similar pressures in future, emphasizing that content standards should not be compromised by any administration.
“I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction – and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again”, Mark affirmed.
Hunter Biden and the 2020 Election
In the same letter, Zuckerberg also addressed Meta’s controversial decision to suppress The New York Post’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop during the 2020 election. He explained that Meta took this action after receiving a warning from the FBI about a potential Russian disinformation campaign. However, Zuckerberg now admits that the content did not turn out to be part of such an operation and that demoting the story was a mistake.
“In retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story”, Zuckerberg conceded, noting that Meta has since revised its policies to prevent similar incidents in the future.
No More Electoral Contributions
Zuckerberg further stated that he would not be making any contributions to support electoral infrastructure in the upcoming presidential election. This decision follows criticism of his previous $400 million donation via the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative during the 2020 election, which was intended to support election processes amid the pandemic. Despite his claims that the donation was non-partisan, the move sparked significant backlash, particularly from Republican groups.
“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another—or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle”, Zuckerberg stated.
Mark Zuckerberg’s revelations about government pressure and the subsequent impact on content moderation are likely to reignite discussions on the role of social media platforms in public discourse and their responsibilities in upholding free speech. As the 2024 election approaches, Zuckerberg’s commitment to neutrality and the lessons learned from past actions will be closely scrutinized by both political leaders and the public.
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