Documents suggest Facebook censored users at Biden administration’s request
New documents suggest that Facebook may have engaged in the censorship of American users at the request of the Biden administration.
These allegations surfaced when Ohio Republican Congressman, Jim Jordan, published a collection of internal communications titled “The Facebook Files.”
The documents imply that Facebook may have made changes to its content moderation policies and censored posts due to alleged unconstitutional pressure from the Biden administration.
In the first half of 2021, social media companies like Facebook were reportedly under significant public and private pressure from the Biden administration to crack down on what was described as ‘misinformation’.
An email circulated among Facebook staff in April 2021, addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, referred to ‘continuous pressure from external parties, including the Biden White House, to remove posts’.
This was revealed by Congressman Jordan, who provided images to back his claims.
Among the provided documents, Jordan presented an email from April 2021.
The email revealed that a senior advisor from the Biden administration was displeased about Facebook’s decision not to remove a particular post.
The post was a meme featuring actor Leonardo DiCaprio, making a reference to potential future lawsuits relating to adverse effects of the COVID vaccine.
The documents also highlight discussions among Facebook staff regarding the impact of censoring such content on traditional boundaries of free speech in the US.
Despite expressing this concern, Facebook eventually removed the original post.
According to Jordan, the pressure to remove the post led to a sense of alarm within Facebook, with the vice president of public policy, Brian Rice, describing the situation as a crossroads for the company’s relationship with the Biden administration.
Jordan also outlined that this incident was not isolated. He pointed out that President Biden publicly criticized Facebook and other social media platforms in late July 2021 for allegedly disseminating misinformation.
Shortly after, on August 2, 2021, Facebook announced changes to its freedom of speech policies on the platform, allegedly due to pressure from the Biden administration.
In conclusion, Jordan claimed these documents, and others recently submitted to the Committee, prove that the Biden administration exerted undue pressure on Facebook to censor American users, thereby infringing upon free and open discourse on issues of significant public importance.
The Congressman added that Facebook only handed over these documents after the Committee threatened to hold Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt for non-cooperation with the investigation.
As a result, the contempt proceedings have been suspended pending Facebook’s full cooperation with the ongoing investigation.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error