Mark Zuckerberg criticizes Biden officials for pressuring Meta to censor COVID posts.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a bold statement on Monday, expressing regret for not speaking out more forcefully against the pressure his company faced from President Joe Biden’s administration to censor COVID-related content. In a letter addressed to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg revealed that senior officials within Biden’s administration had repeatedly pushed Meta to sensor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire. Zuckerberg acknowledged that he believes the government’s pressure was wrong and expressed regret for not being more outspoken about it.
“Like I said to our teams at the time, 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,” Zuckerberg stated in his letter.
The White House responded with a statement, asserting that their administration simply encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety during the tumultuous peak of the pandemic. They emphasized that they believe tech companies and private actors should consider the impact of their actions on the American people while making independent decisions about the information they present.
Zuckerberg also reflected on Meta’s decision to temporarily limit the distribution of a New York Post story concerning corruption allegations against Hunter Biden prior to the 2020 election. The FBI had warned that the story could be part of a Russian disinformation campaign targeting the Biden family. Zuckerberg admitted that, in hindsight, Meta should not have demoted the story, especially since it was later confirmed not to be Russian disinformation. As a result of this incident, Meta has updated its policies and procedures to prevent similar occurrences, such as no longer temporarily demoting content in the U.S. while awaiting fact-checking.
House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee praised Zuckerberg’s letter, hailing it as a “big win for free speech” and a significant step towards maintaining transparency and integrity in online content moderation.
Furthermore, Zuckerberg declared that he would refrain from making financial contributions to electoral infrastructure in the upcoming election season. He clarified that his past investments in this area through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a non-profit organization he co-founded with his wife, Priscilla Chan, were misconstrued. Despite efforts to distribute resources in a non-partisan manner across various communities, there were perceptions that the work may have favored one party over the other. Zuckerberg’s intention is to remain neutral and avoid any appearance of bias towards any political entity.
