On August 27th, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed that the Biden administration pressured the company to censor content related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. This pressure was reportedly linked to requests from the White House to remove misinformation regarding the coronavirus and vaccines.
In a letter dated August 26th, Zuckerberg informed the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee that he regretted not speaking out sooner about this pressure. He also expressed concerns over past decisions made as the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to remove specific content.
Back in July 2021, President Joe Biden criticized social media platforms like Facebook, accusing them of “killing people” by allowing misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines to spread. Other officials, including former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, echoed these concerns, arguing that platforms like Facebook were not doing enough to combat misinformation, which they believed was hampering efforts to fight the pandemic.
Despite the Biden administration’s criticism, Facebook claimed it was taking “aggressive steps” to counter misinformation. However, in his letter to the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg asserted that Meta was “pressured” into censoring content and that the company would resist similar demands in the future.
Zuckerberg highlighted that in 2021, senior officials from the Biden administration repeatedly pressured Meta to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, expressing frustration when the company did not comply. He stated, “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret we were not more outspoken about it. With the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make some of the same choices today.”
The White House responded by stating that it encouraged responsible actions to protect public health during the pandemic and emphasized that tech companies should consider the impact of their actions on the public while making independent decisions about the information they present.
Zuckerberg has recently made efforts to appeal to conservative users, including praising Republican nominee Donald Trump’s response to an assassination attempt and participating in right-wing podcasts. The Judiciary Committee, led by Trump ally Representative Jim Jordan, described Zuckerberg’s letter as a “big win for free speech,” noting that Zuckerberg admitted that “Facebook censored Americans.”
Zuckerberg also stated that he would not contribute to support electoral infrastructure in the upcoming presidential election to avoid influencing the November vote. During the 2020 election, held amid the pandemic, Zuckerberg’s philanthropy initiative, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, contributed $400 million to support election infrastructure, a move that faced criticism and lawsuits from some groups that viewed it as partisan.