Summarised by Centrist
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that the White House pressured Facebook to censor some COVID content during the pandemic.
“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter to US Congressional representative Jim Jordan.
According to Zuckerberg, senior Biden administration officials repeatedly urged Facebook to take down posts. These included humorous and satirical posts about COVID.
Zuckerberg admitted In his letter that in hindsight Facebook might have made different choices regarding content moderation during the pandemic. He also vowed that the company would push back against any similar demands in the future.
The White House, however, stated that it had encouraged “responsible actions to protect public health and safety” during the pandemic. The administration maintained that tech companies should make independent decisions about the information they present to the public.
