Zuckerberg Expresses Remorse Over His Decision To Demote Covid-19 Content.

The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has revealed that Facebook faced pressure from the federal government to censor COVID-19 related content, and he now expresses regret for complying with those demands.

Zuckerberg stated that senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, exerted consistent pressure on Facebook’s teams for months, urging them to censor specific COVID-19 content, even including humor and satire. The officials expressed frustration whenever the teams disagreed with their demands.

It is important to note that the ultimate decision to remove or retain the content remained with Facebook, and Zuckerberg acknowledges the company’s responsibility for the actions taken, including the changes made to content enforcement during the pandemic as a result of external pressure.

Although Zuckerberg did not provide a specific instance of the information the federal government allegedly intended to suppress, it is known that social media platforms, including Facebook, censored content deemed to be misinformation related to SARS-CoV-2, lockdowns, and vaccines, or content that violated the platform’s policies during the pandemic.

Zuckerberg now expresses doubt about the decisions made in the past, stating that with the benefit of hindsight and new information, different choices may have been made today. He insists that Facebook would be ready to resist government interference if a similar situation were to arise again.

As he reflects on the events, Zuckerberg regrets that Facebook did not speak out more forcefully against the government’s pressure. He underlines his belief that content standards should not be compromised due to pressure from any administration, in any direction, and emphasizes that Facebook is prepared to push back against such pressure in the future.

In a letter, Zuckerberg explains that the intention behind the government pressure was to ensure that local election jurisdictions had the necessary resources to facilitate safe voting during the global pandemic.

Regarding the upcoming election, Zuckerberg states that he will not contribute to supporting electoral infrastructure in order to avoid any appearance of playing a role in the November vote, or demonstrating bias in any direction.

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment on Zuckerberg’s allegations but did not receive a response by the time this article was published.