Washington DC [US]: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has accused the Biden administration of pressuring Facebook to censor content related to COVID-19 vaccines. Speaking on the Joe Rogan Podcast, Zuckerberg shared insights into the challenges of managing social media under government influence, particularly during the rollout of vaccine programs.
“This hit the most extreme,” Zuckerberg remarked. “I’d say it was during the Biden Administration when they were trying to roll out the vaccine program. Now I’m generally pretty pro rolling out vaccines—I think on balance the vaccines are more positive than negative—but I think that while they’re trying to push that program, they also tried to censor anyone who was arguing against it.”
Zuckerberg further alleged that the administration demanded Facebook remove content about vaccine side effects, even when it was factually accurate. “They pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly true,” he said. “I mean, they basically pushed us and said, ‘You know anything that says that vaccines might have side effects, you need to take down,’ and I was just like, well, we’re not going to do that.”
He also highlighted the intense pressure Meta faced, revealing that officials from the administration would directly contact Facebook teams, sometimes resorting to aggressive tactics. “We produced all these documents, and it’s all in the public domain. I mean, these people from the Biden administration would call up our team and scream at them and curse,” Zuckerberg said.
The Meta CEO provided specific examples, including a humorous meme about potential future vaccine-related class-action lawsuits. “They want us to take down this meme of Leonardo DiCaprio… And we said, no, we’re not going to take down humour and satire. We’re not going to take down true things.”
Zuckerberg also recalled how the administration’s dissatisfaction escalated after President Biden publicly criticized social media platforms, accusing them of “killing people.” This, he claimed, led to increased scrutiny and investigations into Facebook by various government agencies.
To enhance transparency and promote online freedom, Zuckerberg announced Meta’s decision to close its fact-checking unit in the US. Instead, the company is introducing a user-driven “Community Notes” system, similar to the one used by X (formerly Twitter).
The revelations have reignited debates about the balance between combating misinformation and protecting freedom of speech on social media platforms.