Corona Pandemic
The Facebook founder felt pressured by the Biden administration during the Corona pandemic. He regrets that he did not take a clearer position at the time, writes the Meta boss.
The government’s pressure was wrong, says Zuckerberg. (Archive image) Photo: David Zalubowski/AP/dpa
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg accuses the US administration of President Joe Biden of putting pressure on his company during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, senior officials repeatedly pressured his teams for months to “censor certain content related to the pandemic, including humor and satire,” according to a letter from Zuckerberg to the Republican-led panel published by the House Judiciary Committee.
Ultimately, it was the company’s decision to remove content or not, and they stand by their decisions. However, the pressure from the government was wrong and he regrets that the company did not make a clearer statement on the matter. He also believes that decisions were made that would not have been made in the same way in retrospect.
“I firmly believe that we should not compromise our content standards because of government pressure in one direction or the other – and we are ready to fight back if something like this happens again,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The White House said the administration had “promoted responsible action to protect public health in the face of a deadly pandemic.”
The statement continued: “Our position has been clear and consistent: We believe that tech companies and other private actors should consider the impact of their actions on the American people while making independent decisions about the information they present.”
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