Meta CEO: Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor COVID content
AOC questions Mark Zuckerberg about fake political ads on Facebook
After coming under criticism in 2016 for failing to detect and stop election fraud, Facebook made protecting elections one of its top priorities.
USA TODAY
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the Biden administration pressured the company to censor COVID-19 content in 2021
In a letter sent Monday to the House Judiciary Committee investigating online content moderation, Zuckerberg said senior officials, including the White House, have repeatedly asked the company to remove COVID-19 content, including humor and satire.
“I believe the government’s pressure was wrong and I regret that we did not talk about it more openly,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter. “I also think we made some decisions that, in hindsight and with new information, we would not make today.”
The White House responded in a statement provided to USA TODAY on Tuesday, saying:
“In the face of a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible action to protect public health and safety. Our position has been clear and consistent: We believe technology companies and other private actors should consider the impact of their actions on the American people while making independent decisions about the information they present.”
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Republicans on the Judiciary Committee call the letter a “victory for free speech”
The letter, authenticated by USA TODAY, was shared on social media by the Republican party on the House Judiciary Committee and called a “major victory for free speech.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted information about Zuckerberg’s statements on Truth Social and falsely claimed that the election was rigged.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed the Biden administration a victory when it dismissed a conservative lawsuit challenging the government’s efforts to get social media companies to reduce misinformation online. But the lack of a ruling means the court has not decided how far governments can go in that effort without violating the First Amendment.
“I firmly believe that we should not compromise our content standards because of pressure from any government, from any quarter. And we are ready to fight back if it happens again,” Zuckerberg said in the letter.
Zuckerberg also addresses Hunter Biden and election donations
In the letter, Zuckerberg also expressed regret for downgrading a 2020 New York Post article about Hunter Biden while waiting for fact-checkers to determine whether it was a Russian disinformation operation.
“In hindsight, we shouldn’t have downgraded the story. We’ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again. For example, in the US, we no longer temporarily downgrade things while we wait for fact-checkers.”
Zuckerberg also said he would not make a donation to support election infrastructure, as he did during the 2020 election. The CEO came under Republican scrutiny after he and his wife donated nearly $420 million to two national nonpartisan nonprofits that went to state and local officials to help run the election. Republicans claimed the funds helped Democrats get elected, claims that have been refuted by experts and in court.
“My goal is to remain neutral and not to play a role in either direction – or even to appear to play a role,” Zuckerberg said in the letter. “That’s why I don’t plan to make a similar contribution this election cycle.”
Contributors: Maureen Groppe, Bart Jansen, Sudiksha Kochi
