Zuckerberg says Biden officials would 'scream,' 'curse' at Meta team over COVID takedown requests
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Biden administration officials would “scream” and “curse” at his employees when they disagreed with the government’s takedown requests over pandemic-related content.
“These people from the Biden administration would call up our team and scream at them and curse,” he said on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” posted Friday.
Zuckerberg discussed his shift on fact checking following his announcement earlier this week about Meta’s plans to overhaul its content moderation policies.
“I was really worried from the beginning about basically becoming this decider of what is true in the world,” the Meta CEO said of his foray into combatting misinformation. “That’s kind of a crazy position to be in for billions of people using your service.”
"It just got to a point where it’s just OK this is destroying so much trust, especially in the United States, to have this program,” he added.
He announced Tuesday that his company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, would eliminate its third-party fact-checking program and replacing it with a community-based program called “Community Notes.”
Much like the program of the same name on Elon Musk’s social platform X, Meta’s Community Notes will rely on users to correct and provide context on potentially misleading posts.
Zuckerberg’s social media giant is also changing its policies on various divisive issues, like immigration and gender, including rolling back some protections for LGBTQ users on its platforms.
Meta also told employees on Friday it plans to cut the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) team and roll back related programs, pointing to the changing “legal and policy landscape” in the U.S.
The changes come just weeks before President-elect Trump is set to take office. Zuckerberg, who has had a rocky relationship with Trump, has appeared keen to reconcile with the president-elect in recent weeks, visiting Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., and donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Zuckerberg pointed to the recent election in announcing the changes at Meta earlier this week, saying it felt “like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech.”
The Meta CEO previously voiced frustration with the Biden administration's approach to COVID-19-related takedown requests in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in August.
He said at the time that he regretted not being more outspoken about “government pressure,” accusing Biden officials of “repeatedly pressuring” his company to “censor” content.
The Biden administration’s communications with social media companies over COVID-19 and election-related misinformation was at the heart of a case before the Supreme Court last year.
The court ultimately rejected the challenge brought by two Republican attorneys general and several individuals, finding that they lacked standing. As a result, the justices did not rule on the First Amendment question in the case.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.