Meta CEO regrets not speaking out against the Biden administration’s pressure
US President Joe Biden’s administration pressured the Meta to censor COVID-19 content, claimed Mark Zuckerberg.
According to Hindustan Times, Meta CEO, in a letter to the US House Judiciary Committee of the Republican Party, blamed the Biden-Harris administration for ‘repeatedly’ pressurising his company to censor posts related to the pandemic.
Facebook CEO wrote, “There is a lot of talk right now around how the US government interacts with companies like Meta, and I want to be clear about our position. Our platforms are for everyone.”
He further added, “We are about promoting speech and helping people connect in a safe and secure way. As part of this, we regularly hear from governments around the world and others with various concerns around public discourse and public safety.”
The 40-year-old claimed, “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 humour and satire.”
Moreover, Zuckerberg said that when his company refused to censor content, the Biden White House expressed frustration.
The tech giant accepted, “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.”
Talking about the upcoming US elections, Zuckerberg said that his goal is to ‘be neutral and not play a role one way or another.’
