Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, acknowledged on Monday that the Biden-Harris administration exerted pressure on the platform to censor certain content, including the Hunter Biden laptop story in October 2020 and other topics.
In a letter addressed to Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Zuckerberg wrote, “There’s a lot of talk right now around how the U.S. government interacts with companies like Meta, and I want to be clear about our position.” He emphasized that the platform’s mission is “about promoting free speech and helping people connect in a safe and secure way.”
However, Zuckerberg also admitted, “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.”
The House Judiciary Committee responded to Zuckerberg’s letter by stating, “Mark Zuckerberg just admitted three things: 1. The Biden-Harris Administration ‘pressured’ Facebook to censor Americans. 2. Facebook censored Americans. 3. Facebook throttled the Hunter Biden laptop story. Big win for free speech.”
Zuckerberg’s letter came in response to an investigation led by Jordan and the Judiciary Committee into the alleged censorship campaign by the Biden-Harris administration. Jordan has previously released multiple documents, referred to as the “Facebook Files,” exposing the administration’s pressure on the platform.
Zuckerberg expressed regret over the decisions made under this pressure, stating, “Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19 related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure. I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.”
He also acknowledged that the FBI had “warned” Facebook about a potential Russian disinformation campaign targeting the Biden family and Burisma ahead of the 2020 election. Zuckerberg confirmed that this warning influenced Facebook’s decision to suppress the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop, a decision he now says was mistaken. “It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation,” he admitted, adding, “and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story.”
Zuckerberg assured Jordan that Facebook has since changed its policies and “no longer temporarily demotes things in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers.”
In discussing his involvement in the last election cycle, Zuckerberg explained his contributions to support electoral infrastructure were meant to ensure that local election jurisdictions had the resources needed for safe voting during the pandemic. He insisted these efforts were “designed to be non-partisan” and spread across diverse communities.
Concluding his letter, Zuckerberg acknowledged that some people believe his efforts benefited one party over the other, but he reiterated his intention to remain neutral. He also indicated that he does not plan to make a similar contribution in the upcoming election cycle. Recently, Zuckerberg reportedly told Donald Trump, whom he described as a “badass” following the July 13 assassination attempt, that he would not be supporting Democrats in 2024.