The CEO of Meta just wrote to the House Judiciary Committee to confess to government-Big Tech censorship collusion.
Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter to committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) to state that the Biden-Harris White House, the FBI, and other government entities specifically coordinated with Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads) to achieve censorship of COVID-19 information and the Hunter Biden laptop scandal. The “government pressure was wrong” and “I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” the Big Tech CEO wrote.
“Another day, and yet another admission of censorship. Absolutely incredible,” noted MRC Free Speech America Director Michael Morris. “Zuckerberg gets no credit for fessing up to his platform’s anti-American censorship efforts long after it impacted the 2020 election and after the Supreme Court has already weighed in — and incorrectly ruled — on the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to collude with Big Tech to censor Americans in Murthy v. Missouri, a case in which his latest admission could have weighed heavily. Zuckerberg, instead, remained mum until just now, after he’d been caught and called out, and when his admission doesn't much matter anymore.”
Zuckerberg first explained the Biden-Harris administration’s insistence on COVID-19 censorship. “In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn't agree,” Zuckerberg wrote.
He continued by expressing regret that Meta was “not more outspoken about” his company’s part in, and the Biden-Harris administration’s pressure to, silence free speech. “I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction — and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again,” Zuckerberg vowed.
Meta’s platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram, continue to censor users, however, as MRC’s unique CensorTrack database shows.
One major point of contention is the 2020 Big Tech censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, censorship which an MRC poll indicates swayed the election in favor of then-candidate for president Joe Biden. “[T]he FBI,” Zuckerberg wrote, “warned us about a potential Russian disinformation operation about the Biden family and Burisma” before the 2020 election, and Meta subsequently crushed the laptop scandal with the claim that it was just such disinformation.
That, Zuckerberg admitted to Jordan, was an incorrect response. “It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story.”
Zuckerberg concluded by discussing his infamous “Zuckerbucks” funding of elections in 2020, but did not admit the funds were possibly used to swing races in favor of Democrats, asserting instead that the funding was “designed to be non-partisan.”
Meta has a storied history of election interference. MRC Free Speech America found Facebook interfered in elections 39 times since 2008.
The House Judiciary Committee reacted to the letter by exulting on X, “Big win for free speech.” In contrast, in a statement published on Politico, the Biden-Harris White House tried to justify its anti-free speech pressure on Facebook. “When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety,” the statement babbled.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment and provide an equal platform for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
