Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed 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 judiciary committee of the House of Representatives, Zuckerberg alleges the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humour 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 around 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, “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.”
Facebook in August 2020 removed a post by then-president Donald Trump that communicated “false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19,” which it said violated site policies. Trump had posted a video from Fox News that claimed children were “virtually immune” from the virus.
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.
“In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made from our apps,” the platform said in another important decision related to the pandemic, in May 2021.
Conservatives have long derided Facebook and other major tech companies as favouring 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 a recent assassination attempt as “badass.” He sent Monday’s letter to Jordan, who is a vocal Trump ally.
Hands-off approach to election
Meanwhile, 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.
Zuckerberg also said in his letter 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 head of Meta was challenged to apologize — on the spot — to families of children exposed to sexual content on his social media platforms as he answered questions about the actions taken to protect victims from online harm.
The couple previously donated $400 million US 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.
“I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other,” 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.”
Facebook courted controversy in the wake of the 2016 election when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a consulting company that had ties to Trump political strategist Stephen Bannon, paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million users of the platform. That data was then used to target some voters during the presidential campaign.
Facebook is currently trying to get a multibillion-dollar class action tossed that accuses Facebook of privacy breaches in connection with the Cambridge Analytica saga.
Zuckerberg has said on multiple occasions that it is not the platform’s role to police political speech, while touting Facebook’s abilities in the wake of the 2016 issues to combat “co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour.”
Facebook suspended then-president Donald Trump’s account both there and on Instagram in 2021, finding he stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The suspension lasted two years before it was lifted.