Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes U.S. government pressure on his social media platforms to take down certain COVID-19 content in 2021 was “wrong” and says he’d resist similar attempts in the future, according to a letter submitted to a congressional committee.
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
In the letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and released by Republicans on the panel, Zuckerberg addressed a number of controversies involving content moderation on his platforms.
In response on Tuesday, a White House spokesperson said, “Our position has been clear and consistent: We believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”
Zuckerberg’s submission to the committee came amid the tightly contested campaign for the Oval Office, one in which there’s been a spotlight on widespread online misinformation about the candidates.
Regarding the pandemic, the Facebook founder said the Biden administration had in 2021 “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire.”
“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote.
David Zalubowski / AP
“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 took the letter as a victory, with the Republicans’ House Judiciary Committee account on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, labeling it a “big win for free speech.”
Republicans in Congress have been targeting social media and tech companies in recent months, alleging that they’re suppressing or censoring conservative views.
Zuckerberg also said he wouldn’t repeat his COVID-era funding of non-profits working to support U.S. electoral infrastructure, since Republicans view such donations as partisan.
He contributed $400 million via the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropy venture with his wife, to bolster election infrastructure, according to Reuters.
“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role,” he wrote.
The letter also touched on controversy regarding Facebook’s handling of a story regarding US President Biden’s son Hunter that was published by the New York Post.
Zuckerberg said the story was “temporarily demoted” while Facebook fact checkers probed the possibility of it being “a potential Russian disinformation operation.”
The Meta CEO said the story was ultimately found not to be part of such an operation and that the platform has changed its policy such that posts in the U.S. aren’t demoted anymore while fact checkers look into them.
