Facebook admits mass Covid-19 and political censorship

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised for removing pandemic and election-related content in an explosive admission that censorship pushed by the White House and FBI was “wrong”.

Facebook censored Covid-19 and election-related content under “repeated pressure” from the White House and FBI, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

In an explosive admission that has far-reaching implications for US presidential elections, both in 2020 and 2024, Mr Zuckerberg apologised for his actions to stifle free speech and expression around the world – including political and medical content, as well as humour and satire.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” he wrote in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee.

“I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would not cave to government censorship pressure ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. Picture: Reuters

Mr Zuckerberg’s turnaround comes as Twitter/X’s “free speech absolutist” owner Elon Musk called for the release of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, arrested in France over unmoderated content on the privacy-focused app.

“Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data,” Mr Musk said.

Mr Zuckerberg pointed to senior officials from the Biden-Harris administration and the White House for hounding his team for months in 2021 to take down Covid-related posts.

A year earlier, during the 2020 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Mr Zuckerberg said the FBI claimed there would be a Russian disinformation operation about Hunter Biden and Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

In both instances, he said it was Facebook’s decision to remove content about Covid and a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, published in The New York Post.

“It has since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,” Mr Zuckerberg.

Elon Musk called for the release of Telegram’s owner and said Zuckerberg hasn’t also been arrested for Instagram content because he “caved” to the censors. Picture: AFP

Former president Trump claimed Mr Zuckerberg’s admission showed that the 2020 election “was rigged”.

“This is what everyone’s been waiting for,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.

“Zuckerberg admits that the White House pushed to SUPPRESS HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY (& much more!),” he added, confusing the fact he was still in the White House during the 2020 election.

Despite Mr Trump mixing up whether it was his White House as opposed to the FBI that pressured Facebook, Mr Zuckerberg said the social media platform would not be playing a similar role in the 2024 election against Kamala Harris.

“I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction – and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again,” he said.

The House Judiciary Committee is investigating Facebook and the role its content moderation played in suppressing information during the 2020 election and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Zuckerberg, who also donated almost $A500 million to finance local elections in 2020, said he does not plan to make similar contributions this year. He was heavily criticised over what became known as “Zuckerbucks”.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France over unmoderated content on the privacy focused platform. Picture: AFP

“They were designed to be nonpartisan — spread across urban, rural, and suburban communities,” he said of his motives. “Still, despite the analyses I’ve seen showing otherwise, I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other.”

“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role. 

Republicans’ House Judiciary Committee account on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, labelling it a “big win for free speech.”

The White House defended its actions during the pandemic, which killed more than a million people in the United States amid bitter political battles over vaccines and attempts to limit the spread of the virus.

“When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety,” a White House spokesman said Tuesday.

“We believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have.”

Originally published as Facebook admits mass Covid-19 and political censorship