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(Reuters) – Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, revealed that he faced pressure from high-ranking officials in the Biden administration to censor certain COVID-19 content during the pandemic. He stated that if similar demands arise again, he would resist such pressures.
In a letter dated August 26, addressed to the U.S. House of Representatives judiciary committee, Zuckerberg expressed regret for not voicing his concerns about this pressure earlier. He also reflected on the decisions made by Meta regarding the removal of specific content.
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, exerted significant pressure on our teams for several months to censor certain COVID-19 content, which included humor and satire. There was considerable frustration expressed by their teams when our viewpoints did not align,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter, which was shared on the judicial committee’s Facebook page.
“I believe the governmental pressure was inappropriate, and I regret that we were not more vocal about it,” he continued. “Additionally, I recognize that some of the decisions we made, in hindsight and based on new information, would not be the same today.”
Neither the White House nor Meta provided comments in response to requests made outside of U.S. business hours.
Zuckerberg’s letter was directed to Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the committee. The judiciary committee hailed the letter as a significant advancement for free speech and noted Zuckerberg’s admission that “Facebook censored Americans.”
Additionally, Zuckerberg mentioned he would abstain from making contributions to electoral infrastructure for the upcoming presidential election. This decision aims to ensure he does not influence the outcome in any manner during the November vote.
In contrast, during the 2020 election cycle, which coincided with the pandemic, Zuckerberg contributed $400 million through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic effort collaborated with his wife. This financial backing for election infrastructure drew criticism and sparked lawsuits from groups alleging it had partisan implications.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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