CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the Biden administration pressured Meta to censor COVID-19 content and The Post’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, Zuckerberg admitted that the government’s demands were wrong and that they regret complying with certain requests. He stated that they should not compromise content standards due to government pressure and vowed to push back in the future if similar requests are made.
Zuckerberg revealed that the Biden administration requested the takedown of “humor and satire” related to the coronavirus pandemic, which he now regrets complying with. He acknowledged that they made choices that they wouldn’t make today and expressed that they should not have stifled certain content. Moving forward, he stated that they have put policies in place to ensure that similar censorship of stories does not happen again.
The CEO also conceded that it was a mistake to suppress The Post’s exclusive report on Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election. Prior to limiting the sharing of the story, the FBI had warned Meta about a potential Russian disinformation operation related to the Biden family and Ukrainian energy company, Burisma. Zuckerberg admitted that the reporting was not Russian disinformation and that they shouldn’t have demoted the story. He assured Jordan that they have changed their policies and processes to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
Zuckerberg emphasized that they have learned from their past mistakes and are committed to maintaining content standards in the face of government pressure. He stated that they are ready to push back if similar requests are made in the future. The letter to Jordan represents a stronger admission of wrongdoing than his previous statements regarding the suppression of The Post’s laptop exposé. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the fact-checkers were unable to prove the story false and admitted that the censorship effort may have been unfair.
Regarding the “Zuckerbucks” initiative to finance local elections, Zuckerberg stated that he does not plan on making a similar contribution in the upcoming cycle. The initiative was criticized by Republicans as an attempt to influence the 2020 vote, despite Zuckerberg’s assertion that it was intended to be non-partisan. He expressed a desire to remain neutral and not play a role in influencing elections, either directly or indirectly. Zuckerberg’s decision not to fund local elections further reflects his commitment to avoiding partisan involvement and maintaining professional standards.
