Zuckerberg says Biden administration pressured Meta to censor content during pandemic

Meta (M1TA34) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today he regrets that his company caved in to pressure from the Joe Biden administration to censor content on its platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic, calling the intervention “wrong” and saying he intends to backtrack if it happens again.

These statements were included in a letter sent on Monday (26) to the US House Judiciary Committee, in response to the investigation into content moderation on electronic platforms.

“In 2021, senior Biden administration officials, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed deep frustration with our teams when we disagreed,” Zuckerberg added in the letter, which the Judiciary Committee posted on its website. Facebook.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we weren’t more vocal about it,” Zuckerberg wrote. “I feel strongly that we shouldn’t compromise our content standards because of pressure from any administration in any direction — and we’re prepared to push back if something like this happens again.”

Hunter Biden

Zuckerberg also said he particularly regretted hiding some content related to campaign coverage. New York Post On Hunter Biden, the US president’s son, before the 2020 election, after the FBI warned of a suspected Russian disinformation operation. “It has since become clear that the report was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we should not have downplayed the story,” he wrote.

The letter was addressed to Jim Jordan, the committee’s chairman and a Republican. In a Facebook post, the committee called the letter “a huge victory for free speech” and said Zuckerberg had admitted that “Facebook is censoring Americans.”

Zuckerberg also said in the letter that he would not make any contributions to support election infrastructure in this year’s presidential election so as not to “play a role in any way” in the November election.

During the last US election in 2020, during the pandemic, the billionaire contributed $400 million through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropic venture with his wife, to support election infrastructure, a move that drew criticism and lawsuits from some groups who said the move was partisan.

The White House issued a statement defending the administration’s approach to handling information related to Covid-19. “When faced with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible action to protect public health and safety,” the statement said.

“Our position has been clear and consistent: We believe that technology companies and other private parties must consider the impact of their actions on the American people as they make independent choices about the information they provide.”

(With Reuters)

Get access to free online streaming and in-person tickets with 60% off.