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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and he vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.
In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg alleges that the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.”
The officials “expressed a lot of frustration” when the company didn’t agree, he said in the letter.
“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter dated Aug. 26 and posted on the committee’s Facebook page and to its account on X.
The letter is the latest repudiation by Zuckerberg of efforts to target misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic during and after the 2020 presidential election, particularly as allegations have emerged that some posts were deleted or restricted wrongly.
“I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today,” he said, without elaborating. “We’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”
In response, the White House said in a statement that, “When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety. Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”
Experts warn this year’s U.S. election could be swamped by misinformation on social media with the proliferation of artificial intelligence and other tools to produce false news stories and content that could mislead voters.
Facebook in early 2021 appended what Zuckerberg called labels with “credible information” to posts about COVID-19 vaccines. That’s after it moved in April 2020—just as the virus had led to global shutdowns and radical changes in everyday life—to warn users who shared misinformation about COVID-19.
Conservatives have long derided Facebook and other major tech companies as favoring liberal priorities and accused them of censorship.
Zuckerberg has tried to change the company’s perception on the right, going on podcaster Joe Rogan’s show in 2022 and complimenting Republican nominee Donald Trump’s response to an assassination attempt as “badass.” He sent Monday’s letter to the House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Jordan, is a longtime Trump ally.
Zuckerberg also said he would no longer donate money to widen election access for voters through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the company that runs the philanthropy for him and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
The couple previously donated $419 million to help local election offices prepare for voters in the 2020 presidential election, with funds used for protective equipment to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at polling sites, drive-thru voting locations and equipment to process mail ballots. Republicans said the donations essentially created a private takeover of government election operations that boosted turnout for Democrats in key swing states.
“I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other” despite analyses showing otherwise, he said. “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another—or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”
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How’s this not your lead story?
The trump word was missing.
So, people were dying because the new barrier to publishing misinformation is that you just have an email address. No printing presses, no fact-checking editors, no possibility of facing a liable suit and Facebook was “pressured” to not help kill people?!?!
Why does this even bear mentioning by a reputable news organization?
It “bears mentioning” because the fools in D.C. were CENSORING SPEECH AND SUPPRESSING EXPRESSION OF THOUGHT!!! For God’s sake, THINK!!!
No, the folks in Washington were trying to protect the health of the citizens of this country. If people started posting on Facebook and X and other social networks that it was okay to gargle bleach, or acid, to cure the common cold, wouldn’t you want someone to step in and try to put a stop to such garbage?
As interpreted by the US Supreme Court, liberals and conservatives, textualists and living document, there is broad agreement the government has the right to prohibit the expression of ideas when that expression poses a threat to the government or to the health and welfare of the citizenry. So, you can’t call for the overthrow of the government and expect to be protected by the First Amendment. You can’t yell fire in a public building (a theatre, in the relevant case), endangering the health and welfare of those in the building, and claim First Amendment protection. You can’t engage in public speech in such a fashion as to constitute harrassment (picketing the homes of doctors or public officials) and claim the protection of the First Amendment . I can’t defame you and plead First Amendment protection from court (government) action. And if some buffoon is out there spreading lies about a disease that has reached pandemic level and has caused the death of millions, they don’t get to go spreading misinformation that may lead to endangering the health and welfare of the citizenry and claim protection of the First Amendment.
You mean mis information like it was a leak from Wuhan laboratory in china? Which is now been proven to be true. Also you mean like how they were supposed to suppress the story about Hunter biden’s laptop as Russian collusion which now we know that was fake also and the laptop does exist and the information on it was correct with the big guy getting his 10%
Zuckerberg wants another Trump presidency and is taking every chance possible to help this effort. Like Trump, I believe little of what comes out of his mouth.
You know he’s ultra liberal and donated heavily to the Democratic cause in 2020 to get them elected?