Zuckerberg Says He Was ‘Pressured’ by Biden to Pull Covid Content From Facebook
BloombergAUG 29 2024
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, in a letter made public Tuesday but dated August 26, revealed to US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, that Biden administration officials "repeatedly pressured" Facebook to take down "certain COVID-19 content" over the course of several months in 2021.
Zuckerberg expressed regrets over how his company succumbed to the pressure and wrote Meta "made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information" wouldn't make now or in the future.
Separately, Zuckerberg also expressed regret for suppressing reports about the laptop of Hunter Biden, Pres. Joe Biden's son, prior to the 2020 presidential election. Zuckerberg said the FBI "warned" Meta about "a potential Russian disinformation operation" but that in retrospect Meta "shouldn't have demoted the story."
This is a victory for free speech in the US and around the world. By standing up to government pressure, Zuckerberg is committing to allowing a free flow of ideas on his platforms, regardless of what side of the political spectrum those ideas come from. No government has the right to censor information it doesn't like.
Meta knows how dangerous the misinformation it removed from its platform was, especially at the height of the pandemic. The Supreme Court has confirmed the administration's right to continue working with social media platforms, and Zuckerberg should take that as a responsibility his company has to protect the public.