Zuckerberg says Biden administration pressured Meta to censor Covid-19 content
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would push back against government pressure to censor content on Facebook.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said senior officials in the Biden administration pressured his social media company to censor Covid-19 content during the pandemic, adding that he would push back if this were to happen again.
In a letter dated Aug 26, he told the judiciary committee of the US House of Representatives that he regretted not speaking up about this pressure earlier, as well as some decisions the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner made around removing certain content.
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain Covid-19 content, including humour and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote in the letter, which was posted by the House committee on the judiciary on its Facebook page.
“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret we were not more outspoken about it,” he wrote.
“I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”
The letter was addressed to Mr Jim Jordan, chairman of the committee and a Republican.
In its Facebook post, the committee called the letter a “big win for free speech” and said Mr Zuckerberg has admitted that “Facebook censored Americans”.
In the letter, Mr Zuckerberg also said he would not make any contributions to support electoral infrastructure in the Nov 5 presidential election so as to “not play a role one way or another” in the November vote.
During the last election, which was held in 2020 during the pandemic, the billionaire contributed US$400 million (S$521 million) via the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropy venture with his wife, to support election infrastructure. This drew criticism and lawsuits from some groups that said the move was partisan.
REUTERS
