Meta CEO Admits Biden-Harris Admin Pressured Company to Censor Americans
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed in a letter on Monday that Facebook faced pressure from the Biden-Harris administration to censor content related to COVID-19, a significant admission made public more than a year after the House Judiciary Committee began investigating content moderation practices on online platforms.
Zuckerberg’s Admission
In a letter addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Zuckerberg acknowledged that "senior officials" from the Biden administration and White House exerted repeated pressure on Facebook to remove certain COVID-19-related content, including satire and humor, during 2021. Zuckerberg expressed regret that his company did not more strongly oppose these demands.
"I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it," Zuckerberg wrote. He further stated, "Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure."
Meta’s Cooperation with the Investigation
Zuckerberg emphasized Meta’s cooperation with the ongoing investigation, highlighting that the company has provided the committee with thousands of documents and made a dozen employees available for interviews. He also reiterated Meta's commitment to promoting free speech and maintaining safe, secure platforms for public discourse.
Response from the White House
A White House spokesperson responded to the revelations, stating, "When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety." The spokesperson added that the administration's position has always been that tech companies should independently consider the impact of their actions on the American people.
Content Moderation Controversies
The letter also touched on the controversy surrounding the temporary demotion of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election. Zuckerberg noted that Facebook had acted on a warning from the FBI about a potential Russian disinformation campaign. However, he acknowledged that, in hindsight, the story was not Russian disinformation and that Facebook should not have demoted it.
"We’ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again," Zuckerberg wrote, citing a new policy where Facebook no longer temporarily demotes content in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers.
Meta has declined to comment further beyond the text of the letter.
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