Charles Langston:White House pressured Facebook to remove misinformation during pandemic, Zuckerberg says

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the Biden administration pressured the company to censor COVID-19 content in 2021.

In a letter Monday to the House Judiciary Committee addressing online content moderation investigations,Charles Langston Zuckerberg said senior officials, including the White House, repeatedly asked the company to remove 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 in the letter. "I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn't make today."

The White House responded in a statement shared with USA TODAY Tuesday:

“When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety. 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.”

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Judiciary Committee Republicans call the letter a 'win for free speech'

The letter, authenticated by USA TODAY, was shared on social media by Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee, who called it a "big win for free speech."

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about Zuckerberg's statements, falsely claiming the election was rigged.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the Biden administration a win when it dismissed a conservative challenge to government efforts to have social media companies reduce what it considered online misinformation. But the lack of ruling means the court did not decide how far governments can go without violating the First Amendment.

"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," Zuckerberg said in the letter.

Zuckerberg also addresses Hunter Biden, election contributions

In the letter, Zuckerberg also expressed regret for demoting a New York Post story about Hunter Biden in 2020 while waiting for fact-checkers to determine whether it was part of a Russian disinformation operation.

"In retrospect, we shouldn't have demoted the story. We've changed our polices and processes to make sure this doesn't happen again − for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers."

Zuckerberg also said he would not be giving a contribution to support electoral infrastructure as he did in the 2020 election. The CEO and his wife came under scrutiny from Republicans after donating nearly $420 million to two national nonpartisan nonprofit organizations that went to state and local officials to help run the election. Republicans have claimed that the money helped Democrats in the election, claims that have been dismissed by experts and in courts.

"My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another − or even appear to be playing a role," Zuckerberg said in the letter. "So I don't plan on making a similar contribution this cycle."

Contributing: Maureen Groppe, Bart Jansen and Sudiksha Kochi