Zuckerberg says the White House pressured Facebook over some Covid-19 content
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg alleged that Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to censor COVID-19 content. He regrets not opposing this pressure and will not fund voter access initiatives amid rising misinformation concerns.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that senior officials from the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor certain COVID-19 content during the pandemic. In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, Zuckerberg stated that these officials expressed frustration when Facebook did not comply with requests to remove content, including humor and satire related to the virus. He expressed regret for not being more vocal against this pressure and indicated that the company would resist similar demands in the future. The White House responded by emphasizing the importance of responsible actions to protect public health, asserting that tech companies should consider the impact of their actions on the public while maintaining their independence. Zuckerberg also mentioned that Facebook had implemented measures to label posts with credible information about COVID-19 vaccines and warned users against misinformation. Additionally, he announced that he would not be donating to initiatives aimed at widening voter access in the upcoming election cycle, aiming to maintain neutrality amid accusations of bias. This comes as concerns grow over the potential for misinformation to influence the upcoming U.S. elections, particularly with the rise of artificial intelligence tools that can create misleading content.
- Zuckerberg claims the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor COVID-19 content.
- The White House emphasized the need for responsible actions to protect public health.
- Zuckerberg regrets not being more outspoken against government pressure.
- He will not donate to initiatives for widening voter access in the upcoming election.
- Concerns about misinformation in the upcoming U.S. elections are increasing.
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13 commentsAlso interesting that the AP article doesn't mention the hunter biden story censorhip that zuck mentions in the same letter.
Then it was *two* neighbors a day...
The hospital beds were filling up so fast, they were building tent hospitals in Central Park. So many bodies were piling up in morgues that there was serious talk about having mass burials.
It is very easy to armchair quarterback how this should have played out--5 years later, with the benefit of hindsight. Yes, lots of things could have been handled better. Yes, we should do postmortems to find out what could be done better next time.
But FFS, both the government and corporate leaders had to make decisions in real time--decisions they knew would have real consequences, and decisions they knew had the possibility of being wrong. They didn't have the luxury of perfection. It was a once-in-a-century pandemic, and they had to act in the face of partial information.
All things considered, they did a pretty good job.
Technically true, but effectively more narrative than journalism, especially since among that censored "some" was a lot of true information and experiences.
EDIT: surprisingly aggressive downvoting on this, seems reasonable to make the point that a lot of owners of social media sites have billions of dollars in taxes riding on a Trump win if this policy happens.
I believe how Zuckerberg handled a pandemic that killed millions of people around the world was wrong. At some point in time, we have to admit to ourselves that misinformation, including misinformation masquerading as "satire", is deadly and we're going to have to come to terms whether spreading deadly misinformation is a constitutionally protected right.
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