Zuckerberg says US pressure on COVID-19 posts was 'wrong'

WASHINGTON

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes U.S. government pressure on his social media platforms to take down certain COVID-19 content in 2021 was "wrong," and said he would resist similar attempts in the future, according to a letter submitted to a U.S. congressional committee.

In the letter, addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and released by Republicans on the committee, Zuckerberg addressed a number of controversies centered on content moderation on his platforms.

He also asserted that he did not plan on repeating funding efforts for U.S. election infrastructure ahead of the country's presidential poll this year, donations that had drawn sharp criticism from Republicans.

Zuckerberg's submission to the committee comes just over two months out from a tightly contested U.S. presidential election race, with the spotlight on widespread online misinformation about the candidates.

Regarding the pandemic, the Facebook founder said the Biden administration had in 2021 "repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire."

"I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it," Zuckerberg wrote.

"I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction, and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again."