Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed regret for bowing to pressure from the federal government to review COVID-19 content on his social media platform Facebook. In a letter sent to Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the tech billionaire stated that senior officials in the Biden administration had pressured his company to review COVID-19 information, including humor and satire content, which he now regrets complying with.
Zuckerberg stated, “In 2021, senior officials of the Biden administration, including the White House, have been pressuring our team for months to review certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire content, and expressed great displeasure when we disagreed.”
He emphasized that the decision to delete such content ultimately lies with them, and they have the authority to make decisions, including changes in their execution of COVID-19 related work under such pressure.
Zuckerberg did not provide further examples or disclose which types of information the federal government attempted to suppress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms, including Facebook, reviewed misinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, lockdown measures, vaccines, or other content that violated their policies.
Reflecting on past decisions and new information, Zuckerberg believes he would not make the same choices now. He claimed that if the government tries to interfere again, the platform is prepared to counteract.
He said, “I believe the pressure imposed by the government was wrong, and I regret that we did not speak out. I firmly believe that we should not lower content standards due to any government pressure. If similar situations arise again, we are prepared to respond.”
During the last election, the billionaire donated $400 million through his charity organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to support election infrastructure building.
In his letter, he wrote, “Our idea was to ensure that local election jurisdictions across the country have the resources they need to help people vote safely during a global pandemic.”
Zuckerberg added that he will not donate to support election infrastructure in this year’s election to avoid potentially influencing the November vote in any way, even inadvertently.
The Epoch Times reached out to the White House regarding Zuckerberg’s allegations, but had not received a response at the time of publication.