Zuckerberg admits that Meta shouldn't have censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, but gave in
Back in the Fall of 2020, there was a story that could potentially turn upside down the then-presidential elections – it was a scandal about Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden (one of the candidates for the White House).
The scandal occurred after a solid half year of COVID-related restrictions, measures, and pandemic-related policies: something that was also not allowed to comment on Meta freely.
Now, Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that it was wrong of him and Meta to suppress content about these two issues on Facebook and Instagram.
Zuck has sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), where he writes that "senior Biden administration officials, including the White House, repeatedly pressured" Meta to "censor" content related to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.
He also says that these senior officials from the Biden administration "expressed a lot of frustration" with Meta's teams, when they (allegedly) objected at first to go on and censor "certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire".
Ultimately, it was Meta's decision and they caved in, as Zuck explains:
In the letter, Zuckerberg also stated that the FBI has "warned" Meta about "a potential Russian disinformation operation about the Biden family and Burisma in the lead up to the 2020 election".
He's talking, of course, about the New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop. Meta "sent that story to fact-checkers for review and temporarily demoted it while waiting for a reply". He also added:
Well, there it is. If you've been saying that Facebook did censor important stuff since 2020, it's quite possible that you were made fun of at the last four Thanksgivings for being a conspiracy theorist.
I think somebody owes you an apology.
Anyway, what's your take on the story? Is Mark Zuckerberg admitting this because years have passed (and it's safe to do so), or there's more to it?
The scandal occurred after a solid half year of COVID-related restrictions, measures, and pandemic-related policies: something that was also not allowed to comment on Meta freely.
Zuck has sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), where he writes that "senior Biden administration officials, including the White House, repeatedly pressured" Meta to "censor" content related to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.
Mark Zuckerberg just admitted three things:
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) August 26, 2024
1. Biden-Harris Admin "pressured" Facebook to censor Americans.
2. Facebook censored Americans.
3. Facebook throttled the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Big win for free speech. pic.twitter.com/ALlbZd9l6K
He also says that these senior officials from the Biden administration "expressed a lot of frustration" with Meta's teams, when they (allegedly) objected at first to go on and censor "certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire".
Ultimately, it was Meta's decision and they caved in, as Zuck explains:
I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it. I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn't make today.
– Mark Zuckerberg in a letter to the Committee on the Judiciary, August 2024
It's since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn't have demoted the story.
– Mark Zuckerberg in a letter to the Committee on the Judiciary, August 2024
Anyway, what's your take on the story? Is Mark Zuckerberg admitting this because years have passed (and it's safe to do so), or there's more to it?
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: