Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook was “pressured” by the U.S. government to censor COVID-19 content during the pandemic and expressed regret for complying with those demands.
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly urged our teams for months to censor specific COVID-19 content, even humor and satire,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. Although the decision to remove content was Meta’s, he stated, “The government pressure was inappropriate, and I regret that we were not more vocal about it.”
During the pandemic, Facebook faced criticism from opponents of lockdowns, vaccines, and mask mandates for removing posts it deemed contained misinformation about the virus or violated its policies. In total, Facebook took down over 20 million pieces of content in just over a year. Mark Zuckerberg, like other social media executives such as Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter, has expressed regret over content moderation decisions that, in
The global debate is intensifying over the extent to which social media companies should regulate the comments, images, and other content shared by their users. While some platforms advocate for minimal intervention, allowing users to express themselves freely online, certain governments argue that this hands-off approach can lead to criminal activities. Over the weekend, French authorities arrested Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov, accusing the company of not doing enough to combat illegal activities on the messaging app, including the distribution of child sexual abuse material.
On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, where Vice President Kamala Harris faces off against former President Donald Trump, Zuckerberg is making efforts to maintain a non-partisan stance. “My goal is to remain neutral and not influence the outcome or even give the impression of doing so,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter. The letter’s contents were shared on the Facebook page of the House Judiciary Committee and confirmed by Meta. He was addressing contributions made during the last presidential cycle to support electoral infrastructure.