In a letter sent Monday to the U.S. House of Representatives in response to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into content moderation on online platforms, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg alleged that the Biden administration “pressured” the company “for months” to “censor” COVID-19 content on its platforms in 2021 during the pandemic.
Zuckerberg asserted that the pressure applied to all of the platforms under the Meta name, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and came from “senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House.” He said it covered not only certain COVID-19 content, but also “humor and satire.”
The officials “expressed significant frustration with our teams when we didn’t comply,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg also touched on alleged censorship surrounding Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, during the 2020 U.S. elections.
He stated that during the elections, the FBI had warned him that reports of Hunter’s misconduct were potentially part of a Russian disinformation operation targeting the Biden family. Hunter Biden was later found guilty of multiple crimes, including illegal possession of a firearm, failure to pay 1.4 million dollars in federal taxes, and drug-related offenses.
Zuckerberg said he regretted that he had complied and assured the Committee that he and Meta are prepared to “push back” against any similar attempts to censor content on his platforms in the future.
He addressed his letter to Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, the Chairman of the of the House Judiciary Committee, who hailed the letter in a series of tweets on X as a “big win for free speech.”
Zuckerberg also took the opportunity to announce in his letter that he will not be making any political campaign contributions in this year’s U.S. presidential elections, choosing to remain “neutral.”
The White House in a statement said, “When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety.” It reiterated its position that “tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people.”