Mark Zuckerberg Reveals Biden Administration 'Called Up His Team Screaming and Cursing' over Censoring Social Media Posts — Including A Meme of Leonardo DiCaprio
Jan. 10 2025, Published 4:18 p.m. ET
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, who recently announced the end of his social network's fact-checking program amid claims of censorship, shared his own shocking experience of trying to be censored by the Biden administration, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Meta chief told podcaster Joe Rogan he was yelled at and threatened over posts the White House disagreed with.
Zuckerberg was a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast.
Zuckerberg told the host President Joe Biden's administration "pressured" Facebook to "censor" certain content on the popular social media platform – including a meme featuring Leonardo DiCaprio that was critical of COVID overreaction.
The meme featured a shot from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood of DiCaprio's character pointing at a TV screen.
The 40-year-old recalled the meme spoofed, "10 years from now you're going to see an ad that says if you took a Covid vaccine, you'd be eligible for a 'payment' in 'sort of like a class action lawsuit."
But Zuckerberg stood his ground, telling the president: "No, we're not we're not going to take down humor."
Zuckerberg said the White House would routinely try to pressure his company, adding government officials "pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly true."
He added high high-ranking staff members would "call up our team and scream at them and curse" over social media memes.
Zuckerberg added: "Basically, it just got to this point where we were like 'no, we're not going to take down things that are true. That's ridiculous.'"
Biden wanted Facebook to take down memes critical of controversial topics, like COVID.
Earlier this week, Zuckerberg shared his decision to end "fact-checking" on Meta – marking his shift from banning President-elect Donald Trump's rhetoric to fully supporting the Republican leader.
The tech entrepreneur admitted while Meta and Facebook had previously censored conservative views on a large scale, free speech will now be restored on both platforms.
In a five-minute video, he promised to return to the company's roots by reducing errors, simplifying policies, and enhancing free expression.
He said: "We're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.
"More specifically, we're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US."
Zuckerberg said: 'We're ready to push back if something like this happens again.'
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Zuckerberg received criticism in the comments of the announcement, with one writing: "New era of misinformation."
A second wrote: "So attacking minorities, encouraging their aggression, risking their lives as consequences, will be considered for you free expression? Oohhh I forgot, hate speech generates more engagement, and that generates more money."
Another slammed: "Hey man, I noticed all the hate you're getting, and I just wanted to say that you deserve it."
Similar to X, which was taken over by Tesla tycoon Elon Musk in 2023, Meta's shift will allow users to flag potentially misleading posts for more context – in a move that seems part of a broader effort to reshape the internet for a second Trump era.
Zuckerberg threatened governments in Europe, South America, and China, stating Meta would work with Trump to resist foreign pressures to censor American companies.
Meta will also "simplify" its policies to remove restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are seen as out of step with mainstream discourse.
The changes will impact Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, with Trump long criticizing Meta for politically biased censorship against conservatives.
