Mark Zuckerberg accused the Biden administration of censoring COVID-19 content
28 august 2024 в 00:28
Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, August 26, stating that President Joe Biden’s administration «pressured» his company, Meta, in 2021 to «censor certain content about COVID-19». In the letter, the 40-year-old businessman noted that there is currently much discussion about how the US government interacts with companies like Meta.
«Our platforms are for everyone — we strive to promote freedom of speech and help people communicate safely and reliably», - wrote the Facebook co-founder. «In 2021, senior officials in the Biden administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain content about COVID-19, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of dissatisfaction when we disagreed».
Zuckerberg continued in his letter: «As I told our teams at the time, I strongly believe that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in any direction — and we are prepared to resist if something like this happens again».
The controlling shareholder of Meta also insisted that he intends to remain «neutral» in politics.
«My goal is to be neutral and not play any role — or even appear to play a role», - concluded Zuckerberg. «So I do not plan to make a similar contribution in this cycle».
President Biden, 81, has not publicly commented on Zuckerberg’s statements. However, a White House representative responded to the letter in a statement, according to CNN.
«Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe that technology companies and other private actors should consider the consequences of their actions for the American people, making independent decisions about the information they present», - said the representative, adding that the administration encouraged «responsible actions to protect public health and safety» in 2021.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee GOP shared Zuckerberg’s letter on X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote that he «just acknowledged three things», - calling the letter «a big victory for freedom of speech».
«1. The Biden-Harris administration 'pressured' Facebook to censor Americans», - tweeted GOP members. «2. Facebook censored Americans. 3. Facebook slowed down the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop»
«Our platforms are for everyone — we strive to promote freedom of speech and help people communicate safely and reliably», - wrote the Facebook co-founder. «In 2021, senior officials in the Biden administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain content about COVID-19, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of dissatisfaction when we disagreed».
Zuckerberg continued in his letter: «As I told our teams at the time, I strongly believe that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in any direction — and we are prepared to resist if something like this happens again».
The controlling shareholder of Meta also insisted that he intends to remain «neutral» in politics.
«My goal is to be neutral and not play any role — or even appear to play a role», - concluded Zuckerberg. «So I do not plan to make a similar contribution in this cycle».
President Biden, 81, has not publicly commented on Zuckerberg’s statements. However, a White House representative responded to the letter in a statement, according to CNN.
«Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe that technology companies and other private actors should consider the consequences of their actions for the American people, making independent decisions about the information they present», - said the representative, adding that the administration encouraged «responsible actions to protect public health and safety» in 2021.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee GOP shared Zuckerberg’s letter on X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote that he «just acknowledged three things», - calling the letter «a big victory for freedom of speech».
«1. The Biden-Harris administration 'pressured' Facebook to censor Americans», - tweeted GOP members. «2. Facebook censored Americans. 3. Facebook slowed down the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop»
© Puhova Marina
