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Zuckerberg regrets bowing to Biden administration to censor COVID posts

Karah Rucker

Summary

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Full story

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed regret for yielding to “pressure” from the Biden administration to censor COVID-19-related content during the pandemic. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Aug. 26, Zuckerberg revealed that senior officials in the White House had a list of demands for censoring online posts about COVID-19. He noted that the Biden administration became “frustrated” when Facebook did not comply with requests to remove certain posts.

“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.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg added. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

Zuckerberg also mentioned that while Facebook made the final decisions on content removal, it felt significant pressure from the Biden administration. He stated that the company would resist such pressure in the future.

The pandemic was not the only time Facebook faced controversy over censorship. In his letter, Zuckerberg also addressed the Hunter Biden laptop issue from weeks before the 2020 presidential election. He explained that the FBI had warned Facebook about “possible Russian disinformation related to the Biden family,” leading the company to reduce the visibility of a New York Post story about the laptop while waiting for fact-checkers.

Zuckerberg noted that Facebook’s policies have since changed and it no longer demotes content while awaiting fact-checking.

“Mark Zuckerberg just admitted three things: The Biden-Harris administration pressured Facebook to censor Americans, Facebook censored Americans, and Facebook throttled the Hunter Biden laptop story,” The House Judiciary Committee posted on Facebook. “Big win for free speech.”

The White House has not yet commented on Zuckerberg’s letter.

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Timeline

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1:22 min listen

Summary

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Full story

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed regret for yielding to “pressure” from the Biden administration to censor COVID-19-related content during the pandemic. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Aug. 26, Zuckerberg revealed that senior officials in the White House had a list of demands for censoring online posts about COVID-19. He noted that the Biden administration became “frustrated” when Facebook did not comply with requests to remove certain posts.

“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.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg added. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

Zuckerberg also mentioned that while Facebook made the final decisions on content removal, it felt significant pressure from the Biden administration. He stated that the company would resist such pressure in the future.

The pandemic was not the only time Facebook faced controversy over censorship. In his letter, Zuckerberg also addressed the Hunter Biden laptop issue from weeks before the 2020 presidential election. He explained that the FBI had warned Facebook about “possible Russian disinformation related to the Biden family,” leading the company to reduce the visibility of a New York Post story about the laptop while waiting for fact-checkers.

Zuckerberg noted that Facebook’s policies have since changed and it no longer demotes content while awaiting fact-checking.

“Mark Zuckerberg just admitted three things: The Biden-Harris administration pressured Facebook to censor Americans, Facebook censored Americans, and Facebook throttled the Hunter Biden laptop story,” The House Judiciary Committee posted on Facebook. “Big win for free speech.”

The White House has not yet commented on Zuckerberg’s letter.

Related Stories

Tags: , , , , , ,
Read Transcript

Why this story matters

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Get the big picture

Synthesized coverage insights across 9 media outlets

Behind the numbers

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Bias comparison

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  • The Center mauris molestie penatibus proin rutrum porttitor tortor placerat dictumst dignissim senectus augue torquent gravida mattis purus hendrerit, dui tellus pulvinar ac blandit phasellus imperdiet tempor montes maximus aptent litora euismod vitae.
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Key points from the Center

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Key points from the Right

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Other (sources without bias rating):

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Timeline

  • Bob Dylan auction items, including draft lyrics to “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which sold for $508k, generated $1.5 million in sales at Julien’s.
    Lifestyle
    Jan 20

    Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ draft lyrics auctioned for $508,000

    Bob Dylan’s words remain as valuable as ever. Draft lyrics to his iconic song “Mr. Tambourine Man” recently sold for $508,000 at auction. Sixty of Dylan’s personal items were sold on Saturday, Jan. 18, through Julien’s Auctions. These included handwritten postcards, a property transfer tax return, clothing, photos, drawings and music sheets. Altogether, the auction […]

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  • Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 individuals who were charged, arrested and jailed for crimes related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
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