Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that Facebook faced significant pressure from the U.S. government to censor certain content related to Covid-19 during the pandemic.
In a letter sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, subsequently released by Republicans, Zuckerberg addressed several controversies involving content moderation on his platforms.
Zuckerberg stated that in 2021, the Biden administration “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain Covid-19 content, including humour and satire.” He expressed regret for not being more vocal against this pressure at the time, saying, “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.”
He emphasized that Facebook should not compromise its content standards due to pressure from any administration and declared that the company is prepared to resist such pressures.
Republicans quickly hailed the letter as a victory for free speech. The House Judiciary Committee’s account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) called it a “big win for free speech.” This comes amid broader Republican criticism of social media companies, accusing them of suppressing conservative viewpoints.
In the letter, Zuckerberg also stated that he plans to refrain from repeating his previous efforts to fund non-profits that support U.S. electoral infrastructure.
These donations had drawn criticism from Republicans, who viewed them as partisan. Zuckerberg stated: “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another—or even to appear to be playing a role.”
The White House responded to Zuckerberg’s claims by defending its actions during the pandemic. A statement from the administration read, “When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety.” The statement also noted that while the government can encourage responsible behaviour, it believes tech companies should independently decide how to manage the information on their platforms.
Zuckerberg’s letter also revisited the controversy surrounding Facebook’s handling of a story about President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, published by the New York Post.
He explained that the story was “temporarily demoted” while Facebook’s fact-checkers investigated whether it was part of a “potential Russian disinformation operation.”
The investigation later determined that the story was unrelated to such an operation. Zuckerberg mentioned that Facebook has since revised its policy to prevent U.S. posts from being demoted while fact-checkers conduct their reviews.
