Mark Zuckerberg claimed the Biden administration resorted to “screaming” and “cursing” at Meta employees during disputes over removing COVID-related content during a discussion on the “Joe Rogan Experience” Friday.
The tech mogul said on the popular podcast, that intense exchanges showcased censorship attempts and even targeted memes. Zuckerberg alleged officials from the Biden administration were relentless with demands during vaccine rollout and pressured Meta to delete content they deemed as problematic.
“They wanted us to take down this meme of Leonardo DiCaprio looking at a TV talking about how, ten years from now or something, you’re gonna see an ad that says if you took a COVID vaccine, you’re eligible for payment,” Zuckerberg recalled. “We said, ‘No, we’re not gonna take down humor and satire. We’re not gonna take down things that are true.’”
Zuckerberg said the situation escalated after President Biden publicly accused Meta of “killing people” by allowing vaccine misinformation.
The fallout, he said, led to intense government scrutiny. “All these different agencies and branches of government basically started investigating and coming after our company. It was brutal,” he said.
“Did you record any of these phone calls?” Rogan asked.
Zuckerberg clarified while Meta didn’t record its conversations with government officials, he stated, “I mean, there are emails. The emails are published. It’s all out there.”
These comments come as Zuckerberg pivots to a more conservative-leaning persona. On Tuesday, he announced plans to scale back fact-checking efforts on Facebook and Instagram, hoping to “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship on our platforms.”
Meta previously donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund.
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