NEWS
Zuckerberg says Biden administration pressured Meta to censor COVID-19 content
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said senior officials in the Biden administration had 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, Zuckerberg told the judiciary committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that he regretted not speaking up about this pressure earlier, as well as some decisions the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had 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 humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter, which was posted by the 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 White House and Meta did not respond to a request for comment outside U.S. business hours.
The letter was addressed to Jim Jordan, the chairman of the committee and a Republican. In its Facebook post, the committee called the letter a “big win for free speech” and said that Zuckerberg had admitted that “Facebook censored Americans”.
In the letter, Zuckerberg also said he would not make any contributions to support electoral infrastructure in this year’s 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 $400 million via the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropy venture with his wife, to support election infrastructure, a move that drew criticism and lawsuits from some groups that said the move was partisan.
BREAKING: Travis Kelce Caught Red-Handed Liking Kayla Nicole’s Latest Sultry Instagram Post – Fans Speculate Taylor Swift Is Furious and Ready to Confront Him Over the Betrayal!
JUST IN: Michelle Williams and Thomas Kail Quietly Welcome Baby No. 4 as They Shine at Dying For Sex Premiere
BREAKING: Tom Brady Slams Jason Kelce and Kylie Kelce on Fox News for Parading Their Newborn Daughter Finn Anna Kelce During Episodes of ‘New Heights with Travis Kelce’ and ‘Not Gonna Lie’ Barely Days After Kylie Gave Birth
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s Sudden Surge in Joint Charity Events Amid Legal Battle with ‘It Ends With Us’ Director Justin Baldoni: Is Their Do-Gooder Image a Calculated Cover for a Bid to Influence Hollywood’s Power Structure Behind Closed Doors?
JUST IN: Team USA Rugby Star Ilona Maher Reflects on Her Unforgettable Olympic Moment with Jason Kelce and Kylie Kelce, Describes the Heartwarming Support from them During the Paris Games
JUST IN: Finnley ‘Finn’ Anne Kelce’s Name Was a Last-Minute Decision: Kylie and Jason Kelce Welcome Baby No. 4 Finnley Anne Kelce—How They Chose Her Name After Considering Winifred and Why She Almost Became ‘Baby Girl Kelce
JUST IN: Former Yankees Star Alex Rodriguez Hails Taylor Swift as the ‘Greatest Performer of All Time’ and Travis Kelce as a Football Legend, But Elon Musk Question His Credibility on His X app
EXCLUSIVE: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s High-Profile Romance: Could It Be a Carefully Orchestrated Publicity Move by the NFL and Record Labels to Merge Sports and Pop Culture Audiences?
Ellen Pompeo Shares Taylor Swift’s Generous Act for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles NICU Program on ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’: ‘She Knew Me All But 20 Minutes and That Girl Wrote Me the Biggest Check Without Blinking an Eye’
Travis Kelce’s Podcast Episode Claiming Taylor Swift ‘Coaches’ His Game Strategy Divides Chiefs Fans, With Some Calling It a Distraction From Football Focus
Taylor Swift’s Secret Investment in a Facial Recognition Dating App Leaks, Igniting a Privacy Scandal as Fans Accuse Her of Profiting Off Their Love Lives
