Washington:

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently shared an account of Biden administration officials berating Facebook staff over requests to remove content. On the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Zuckerberg said, “Basically, these people from the Biden administration would call our team and, like, yell at them and curse at them.” He stressed that Facebook eventually backed down, saying, “It just got to the point where we were like, ‘No, we’re not going to, we’re not going to kill the true stuff. It’s funny.’

This is not the first time that Zuckerberg has spoken about the pressures of management. In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan last year, Zuckerberg said the White House had “repeatedly pressured” Facebook to remove specific COVID-19 content, including humor and satire. Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook sometimes complied but suggested that they would make different decisions in the future. “We made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today,” he noted.

Mark Zuckerberg wants us to like him the way we like Trump and Elon, so he’s saying things about Joe Rogan that we like to hear. pic.twitter.com/v8BrecoeT6

— Winnie Schola (@WinnieSchola) 10 January 2025

“When faced with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety,” the White House responded at the time. “We believe that tech companies and other private actors should consider the impact of their actions on the American public, while maintaining a free choice about the information they present,” he emphasized. do”.

Zuckerberg shared a specific example of the administration’s requests, which included a meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing to a TV screen advertising a class-action lawsuit for people who received a Covid vaccine. “They’re like, ‘No, you’ve got to take it down,'” Zuckerberg said, but Facebook declined, saying, “We’re not going to tone down humor and sarcasm. We don’t take those things down. Gee Jo, these are true”.

The incident was part of a larger case that reached the Supreme Court in 2023. The plaintiffs tried to block government officials from communicating with social media companies, but the Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the case in a 6-3 decision.

Zuckerberg’s comments came as Meta announced changes to its content moderation policies. They have announced the end of their fact-checking program and replaced it with a community-driven structure. Additionally, Facebook and Instagram will relax rules on political content.

It’s also worth mentioning that he’s one of the tech moguls whose company has pledged $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.

(Translation of Tags) Mark Zuckerberg



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