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    • Biden Administration Pressured Facebook to Censor COVID Content: Meta CEO
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    Biden Administration Pressured Facebook to Censor COVID Content: Meta CEO

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    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 discussing an investigation into 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 pressure was misguided, and I regret that we were not more transparent about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter. “I also believe we made some choices that, given what we know now and the new information, we would not make today.”

    The White House responded to USA TODAY in a statement Tuesday:

    “When faced with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety. Our position is clear and consistent: We believe that technology companies and other private actors must consider the effects their actions have on the American people while making independent choices 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 House Judiciary Committee GOP, which called it a “major victory for free speech.”

    Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about Zuckerberg’s comments, falsely claiming the election was rigged.

    In June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed the Biden administration a victory when it rejected a conservative challenge to government efforts to have social media companies curb online misinformation. The lack of a ruling, however, means the court has not decided how far governments can go in this effort without impeding the First Amendment.

    “I am confident that we should not compromise our content standards because of pressure from any administration, and we are prepared to fight back if something like this happens again,” Zuckerberg said in the letter.

    Zuckerberg also talks about Hunter Biden, campaign contributions

    In the letter, Zuckerberg also expressed regret over demoting a 2020 New York Post article about Hunter Biden while he waited for fact-checkers to determine whether it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

    “In hindsight, we shouldn’t have demoted the story. We’ve changed our policies and processes to ensure that doesn’t happen again. For example, we no longer temporarily demote things in the US while we wait for fact checkers.”

    Zuckerberg also said he would not make contributions to support electoral infrastructure as he did in the 2020 election. The CEO has come under fire from Republicans after he and his wife donated nearly $420 million to two national, nonpartisan nonprofits that went to state and local officials to help administer the election. Republicans have alleged the funds helped Democrats in the election, claims that have been rejected by experts and in courts.

    “My goal is to be neutral and not to play any role whatsoever — or even appear to,” Zuckerberg said in the letter. “So I do not intend to make a similar contribution this cycle.”

    Contributors: Maureen Groppe, Bart Jansen, Sudiksha Kochi

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