Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes US government pressure on his social media platform to remove certain Covid-19 content in 2021 was “wrong”, and said he would oppose similar efforts in the future, according to a letter submitted to a US congressional committee.
In a letter addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and released by Republicans on the committee, Mr. Zuckerberg addressed a number of controversies centered on content moderation on his platforms.
He also said he had no plans to repeat efforts to raise funds for US election infrastructure ahead of the country’s presidential election this year, after those donations were sharply criticised by Republicans.
Mr Zuckerberg’s report before the committee on Monday comes just two months before the US presidential election, and widespread misinformation online about the candidates is dominating headlines.
Regarding the pandemic, the Facebook founder said President Joe Biden’s 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’m sorry we weren’t more vocal about it,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote.
“I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in any direction — and we stand prepared to stand up to it if something like this happens again.”
Republicans hailed the letter as a victory, with the Republicans’ House Judiciary Committee account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) calling it a “major win for free speech.”
The White House defended its actions during the pandemic, which has killed more than one million people in the United States amid a bitter political battle over vaccines and efforts to limit the spread of the virus.
“When faced with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety,” a White House spokesperson said Tuesday.
“We believe that technology companies and other private individuals should take into account the impacts of their actions.”
Zuckerberg said he would not repeat his Covid-era effort to fund nonprofits that work to support U.S. election infrastructure, because such donations are viewed by Republicans as partisan.
“My goal is to remain neutral and not play any role in any way — or even be seen to be playing a role,” he wrote.
The letter also touched upon the controversy over Facebook’s handling of a story published by the New York Post in 2020 about US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
Zuckerberg said the story, which was intended to expose corrupt dealings by the Biden family, was “temporarily removed” while Facebook fact-checkers investigate the possibility that it may be a “potential Russian disinformation campaign.”
Meta’s CEO said it ultimately found the story was not part of any such operation and the platform has changed its policy so that posts in the United States are no longer demoted while being vetted by fact checkers.
Republicans in Congress have been targeting social media and tech companies in recent months, alleging they are suppressing or censoring conservative views.
Donald Trump, who is seeking a return to power in November after losing his re-election battle to Biden in 2020, claimed Zuckerberg’s statement supported his conspiracy theory that the election was stolen.
Trump wrote on his Truth social platform, “This is what everyone has been waiting for – the 2020 Presidential Election was Rigged!”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
