The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has expressed his disagreement with the United States government’s actions in 2021 to suppress certain COVID-19 content on his social media platforms, labeling it as “wrong”.
According to AFP, this stance was revealed in a letter addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, which was made public by Republican members of the committee.
In the letter, Zuckerberg addressed various issues surrounding content moderation on his platforms.
He emphasized that he has no intention of repeating his previous efforts to fund U.S. election infrastructure ahead of the upcoming presidential election, a move that had previously sparked criticism from Republicans.
With the U.S. presidential election just over two months away, Zuckerberg’s letter comes amid heightened scrutiny over the spread of misinformation online, particularly concerning the candidates.
Social media platforms like Meta are under pressure to maintain the integrity of online discourse and prevent the spread of false information that could influence the election’s outcome.
Regarding the pandemic, Zuckerberg revealed that the Biden administration had “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire.”
He expressed regret for not being more vocal against this pressure, stating, “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.”
Zuckerberg further declared, “I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction — and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”
Republicans viewed the letter as a significant victory for free speech, with the House Judiciary Committee’s account on social media platform X calling it a “big win for free speech.” In recent months, Republicans in Congress have increasingly criticized social media and tech companies, accusing them of suppressing or censoring conservative viewpoints.
Zuckerberg also clarified that he would not be repeating his COVID-era initiative to fund non-profits supporting U.S. electoral infrastructure, given the perception among Republicans that such donations were partisan.
He explained, “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role.”
The letter also addressed the controversy surrounding Facebook’s handling of a story about U.S. President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, which was published by the New York Post. Zuckerberg explained that the story was “temporarily demoted” while Facebook fact-checkers investigated it as “a potential Russian disinformation operation.”
Ultimately, the story was found not to be part of such an operation, and Zuckerberg noted that Facebook has since changed its policy to ensure that posts in the United States are no longer demoted while fact-checkers conduct their investigations.
