Mark Zuckerberg Claims White House 'Pressured' Facebook to Censor COVID-19 Content

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed regret over yielding to what he describes as pressure from the U.S. government to censor COVID-19-related content on Facebook and Instagram during the pandemic.

In a letter to Jim Jordan, head of the U.S. House of Representatives judiciary committee, Zuckerberg revealed that senior officials in the Biden administration “repeatedly pressured” Meta to restrict certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire. He acknowledged that this pressure was problematic, stating, “I believe the government pressure was wrong.”

Zuckerberg reflected that, with the benefit of hindsight, the decisions made in 2021 were not ideal. “I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” he said. He emphasized that Meta should not have compromised its content standards due to external pressures, and affirmed a commitment to resist similar pressures in the future.

During the pandemic, Facebook implemented misinformation alerts and removed posts that were deemed to spread false information about COVID-19, including claims about vaccines and the origins of the virus. The platform also temporarily demoted a story about Hunter Biden's laptop after an FBI warning about potential disinformation, which Zuckerberg now believes was a mistake.

The House judiciary committee, controlled by Republicans, viewed Zuckerberg’s admissions as a “big win for free speech” on their Facebook page. 

In response, the White House defended its actions, stating, “We encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety.” It reiterated its stance that while tech companies should consider the impact of their actions, they must make independent decisions about the information they present.