Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that his company, Facebook, faced pressure from the Biden-Harris administration to censor certain content related to COVID-19. This admission came in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, following an investigation into content moderation practices on online platforms.
Zuckerberg’s letter, released on Monday, is a follow-up to Meta’s previous submission of thousands of documents to the House Judiciary Committee. These documents were part of an ongoing investigation into whether and to what extent the executive branch pressured private companies to suppress speech, potentially violating the First Amendment. The letter also highlighted that Meta has made several employees available for interviews to support the investigation.
Excerpt From Zuckerberg’s Letter To Jim Jordan, Chairman, Comittee On The Judiciary
In his letter, Zuckerberg emphasized that Meta’s platforms aim to promote free speech and connect people in a safe manner. He noted that the company regularly interacts with governments worldwide regarding concerns about public discourse and safety. However, Zuckerberg specified that in 2021, “senior officials” from the Biden administration and the White House exerted “repeated pressure” on Facebook to censor certain COVID-19-related content, including humorous and satirical posts.
🔥🚨BREAKING NEWS: Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Meta, formally known as Facebook and Instagram admits he regrets working with the Biden-Harris administration by censoring information online during the Covid era
In a letter to Chairman Jim Jordan and the House Judiciary… pic.twitter.com/fxeTduqbtt
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) August 27, 2024
Zuckerberg stated that although Meta ultimately decided whether to take down content, he felt the pressure from the government was inappropriate. “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote. He expressed that, with hindsight, Meta might have made different decisions regarding content moderation under government pressure.
He further emphasized that Meta should not compromise its content standards due to pressure from any administration. Zuckerberg conveyed readiness to resist similar pressures in the future, stating, “We’re ready to push back if something like this happens.”
The House Judiciary Committee had initially subpoenaed Meta on February 15, 2023, seeking documents and information related to content moderation and interactions between Meta and the executive branch concerning content censorship. The investigation by the committee aims to determine if such actions potentially breached constitutional rights related to free speech.
