“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confessed to House Judiciary Committee Monday.
The stunning confirmation was outlined in a letter submitted to the committee as it continues its investigation into online content censorship efforts.
The letter from Zuckerberg, shared on X by the Committee, includes three main points. First, it admits that the Biden-Harris Administration pressured Meta to remove some Covid-related posts. Second, it acknowledges that they limited the Hunter Biden laptop story. Third, it promises that there will be no more election interference through “Zuckerbucks” in the future.
In the letter, Zuckerberg detailed how senior administration officials urged Meta for months to remove certain posts, including humor and satire related to the virus.
Zuckerberg regrets not speaking out more against the government’s demands and believes the pressure they put on Meta was “wrong.” He said that even though there was a lot of pressure, Meta decided to remove the content, and he takes full responsibility for what happened.
The CEO stressed that Meta should not change its content rules because of pressure from any administration. He made it clear that the company is prepared to resist similar pressures in the future. He told his teams that he believes they should not let any administration influence their content standards and that they are ready to fight back if it happens again.
Zuckerberg also took responsibility for hiding the now-proven Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020.
That story was about a New York Post article on corruption claims involving Joe Biden’s family. Meta lowered the story’s visibility after the FBI warned it might be Russian disinformation. In the fall, when Meta saw the article, they sent it to fact-checkers to review and reduced its visibility while waiting for their feedback.
He explained that the story was not disinformation, as the FBI had claimed, and admitted that it was a mistake to lower its visibility. Looking back, he acknowledged Meta shouldn’t have demoted it. They have “updated their policies and procedures” to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) says the letter shows that the Biden-Harris Administration pressured Facebook to censor what Americans could see. The company did that by hiding the Hunter Biden laptop story from users.
Zuckerberg also answered questions about his hefty donations to Democratic candidates. He explained that the donations were allegedly to “improve election infrastructure.” He claimed these efforts ensured local election offices had the resources to help people vote safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Meta CEO recognized that some people think his donations helped one political party more than another. To deal with these concerns, he stressed that he is committed to staying neutral and said he won’t make similar donations in the next election.
The House Judiciary Committee celebrated the letter on X, calling it a “big win for free speech.” On the other hand, the Biden-Harris White House tried to explain its actions in a statement on Politico. It continues to claim that during the pandemic, it “encouraged responsible steps” to “protect” public health and safety.
Michael Morris from MRC Free Speech America said that Zuckerberg shouldn’t “get credit” for admitting his platform’s censorship. The damage was done, affecting the 2020 election. The Supreme Court had already ruled against the Biden-Harris administration’s actions with Big Tech.
Morris believes that Zuckerberg only spoke up now because he was caught and that his admission doesn’t matter anymore.
Meta has a history of getting involved in elections. MRC Free Speech America found that Facebook interfered in elections 39 times since 2008.
Despite Zuckerberg’s promise to improve, all meta platforms continue censoring content. Users have shared countless incidents of posts being removed, warnings, content deletion, and “fact-checking.”
Unsurprisingly, posts about Donald Trump have led ongoing censorship efforts. Conservative sites, like Libs of TikTok, the Heritage Foundation, and Babylon Bee, are targeted as well.
As the 2024 election cycle heats up, Zuckerberg’s letter might say he is “sorry.” But his actions indicate weary Meta users can look forward to more of the same tactics.
