Mark Zuckerberg's Stunning Confession: Biden Admin 'Repeatedly Pressured' Facebook to 'Censor' Content — Including Hunter's Crack and Sex-Fueled Laptop
Mark Zuckerberg admitted President Joe Biden pushed Facebook to censor stories about COVID-19 and his son Hunter Biden's laptop.
Aug. 27 2024, Published 2:00 p.m. ET
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted President Joe Biden's administration "pressured" Facebook to "censor" certain content on the popular social media platform – including several stories about Hunter Biden's crack and sex-fueled laptop.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Zuckerberg, 40, confessed the Biden Administration pushed him to censor content in a letter to GOP House Rep. Jim Jordan, 60, on Monday.
He wrote: "I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.
Zuckerberg's confession was made in a letter to Republican House Rep. Jim Jordan.
"I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn't make today."
According to the multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur, several "senior Biden Administration officials, including the White House, repeatedly pressured" Meta to "censor" content related to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
He also claimed the White House "expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn't agree".
As for the New York Post's infamous October 2020 piece about Hunter Biden's laptop, Zuckerberg acknowledged he shouldn't have "demoted" the story amid claims it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
The Facebook CEO said: "That fall, when we saw a New York Post story reporting on corruption allegations involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's family, we sent that story to fact-checkers for review and temporarily demoted it while waiting for a reply.
Zuckerberg admitted Meta "demoted" the October 2020 story about Hunter Biden's laptop so Facebook users would not see it,
"It's since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn't have demoted the story."
As RadarOnline.com reported, the FBI warned Meta about a potential Russian disinformation operation connected to the Biden family ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The story about Hunter Biden's laptop was later proven true, and thousands of files from the computer – including pictures and videos of the first son smoking crack and having sex – were shared online.
Other files also showed how Hunter Biden leveraged his father's political access for overseas business dealings in Ukraine and other foreign nations.
Although the White House has not commented on Meta's decision to "demote" the Hunter Biden laptop story, it did respond to Zuckerberg's claims President Biden pressured Facebook to censor certain content about the COVID-19 pandemic.
A White House spokesperson said: "When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety.
The FBI warned Meta about an alleged Russian disinformation campaign connected to the Biden family ahead of the 2020 election.
"Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people while making independent choices about the information they present."
Zuckerberg vowed things would be different should the government make similar requests again in the future.
He said: "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.
"We've changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn't happen again – for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the US while waiting for fact-checkers."
Zuckerberg said: "We're ready to push back if something like this happens again."
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As RadarOnline.com reported, this would not be the first time Zuckerberg discussed "demoting" the Hunter Biden laptop story on Facebook in October 2020.
He previously opened up about the matter during an interview with Joe Rogan in August 2022.
Zuckerberg told the comedian at the time: "It turned out after the fact, the fact-checkers looked into it, no one was able to say it was false.
"I think it sucks, though, in the same way that probably having to go through a criminal trial but being proven innocent in the end sucks.
“I think the process was pretty reasonable. A lot of people were still able to share it. We got a lot of complaints that that was the case."
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