Facebook received pressure from the White House to remove COVID-19 related content, including posts claiming the virus was man-made, according to leaked internal communications obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Nick Clegg, Facebook’s president of global affairs, questioned why they were removing such claims rather than labeling or demoting them. The pressure from the Biden administration led Facebook to take action. However, a vice president at the company acknowledged that they shouldn’t have given in to the pressure. These emails were exchanged in August 2021, three months after Facebook reversed its ban on posts suggesting that COVID-19 was man-made. Notably, Facebook had previously banned a well-reasoned opinion column by China scholar Steven Mosher discussing a potential lab leak. Additionally, the Journal revealed an email circulated the month before, in which President Biden accused Facebook and other platforms of allowing misinformation to spread unchecked. Facebook’s decision to remove COVID-19 content was influenced by the White House, as confirmed by these internal emails.
In July 2021, the White House exerted pressure on Facebook to remove posts asserting that COVID-19 was man-made. However, Facebook executives recognized a significant gap between the administration’s demands and their comfort level with content removal. They were hesitant to take action against humorous or satirical posts questioning the safety of vaccines, despite the White House’s desire to see such content removed. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), was unlikely to approve the removal of humorous content, as stated by Nick Clegg. The emails also mentioned discussions about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic whose Instagram account was revoked due to COVID-related content, but his Facebook account remained because it didn’t share the same type of posts. The White House had a list of demands for Facebook, including the removal of posts making jokes about COVID-19 vaccines.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee reportedly obtained these emails, along with other internal messages, as part of an investigation into allegations of unlawful censorship by the Biden administration on social media platforms. Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana filed a lawsuit claiming that the government pressured social media platforms to suppress dissenting views, including criticism of mask mandates and COVID-19 vaccines. The Justice Department denied these allegations in a nearly 300-page brief. The Washington Post has reached out to Facebook, Meta, and the White House press office for comment. Facebook pushed back on some of the Biden administration’s requests, stating in internal emails that CEO Mark Zuckerberg would not approve of certain demands.
In late July 2021, as Nick Clegg prepared to meet with the US surgeon general to address vaccine misinformation, he expressed concern that their current approach would lead to increasing hostility with the administration. He believed there was a need for creative thinking to address these concerns while focusing on other important matters like data flows. During this time, Facebook was seeking a data-transfer deal between the US and Europe. In other messages, Facebook executives were worried that deleting posts showing vaccine hesitancy among American users could backfire and make them even less likely to get vaccinated. They acknowledged the risk of pushing people further towards hesitancy and fueling conspiracy theories by suppressing their speech. Later on, discussions revolved around stricter punishments for users spreading misinformation about COVID-19, including account revocation on Meta-owned platforms like Instagram. These messages date back to the spring and summer of 2021 when the Biden administration was advocating for nationwide vaccine mandates. Throughout the pandemic, Meta has made changes to its COVID content policies, such as implementing stricter punishments for spreading misinformation.
In early August of the same year, New York City introduced a mandate requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for entry into indoor businesses. The Biden administration allegedly collaborated with social media giants like Facebook and Twitter to censor what they deemed as “misinformation” about the pandemic. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that problematic posts were being flagged for Facebook by her colleagues, emphasizing the need for faster action against harmful content.
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