(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., has accused the Biden-Harris administration of exerting significant pressure on his company to censor posts related to COVID-19.
In a letter addressed to the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg alleged that senior officials, including those from the White House, repeatedly pressured Meta to remove content deemed critical of the administration's handling of the pandemic, including humor and satire.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that, in hindsight, some of the decisions made by Meta regarding COVID-19 content were misguided. He expressed regret for not being more vocal about the issue and emphasized that despite the pressure from the administration, the ultimate decision to remove content rested with Meta.
"In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, exerted significant pressure on our teams to censor certain COVID-19 content," Zuckerberg stated. He added, "Despite this pressure, it was ultimately our decision whether or not to remove content, and we take responsibility for those decisions."
The Meta CEO further reflected on the need for robust content standards and vowed that such compromises should not be influenced by any governmental authority.
"We should not allow any administration to dictate our content standards," Zuckerberg said. "We are prepared to push back if faced with similar pressure in the future."
Read Zuckerberg's letter:
The letter has drawn significant attention, particularly from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. They highlighted Zuckerberg's admissions on the social media platform X, marking it as a substantial victory for free speech.
The committee's statement read, "Mark Zuckerberg just admitted three things: 1. The Biden-Harris Administration pressured Facebook to censor Americans. 2. Facebook censored Americans. 3. Facebook throttled the Hunter Biden laptop story. Big win for free speech."
In addition to the COVID-19 content controversy, Zuckerberg recounted another incident involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He revealed that the FBI had warned Meta about a potential Russian disinformation campaign related to the Biden family and Burisma ahead of the 2020 election.
Following this warning, Meta temporarily demoted a New York Post story that alleged corruption involving Joe Biden's family. Zuckerberg now admits that the story was not disinformation and describes the decision to demote it as a mistake.
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