GOP lawmakers said Tuesday that Zuckerberg’s letter lends credence to the allegations of censorship that they have long levied against social media companies.
“The @HouseGOP has long known the Harris-Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor Americans,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“Mark Zuckerberg’s letter to @JudiciaryGOP leaves no room for doubt: this was an intentional assault on our First Amendment rights,” Emmer added. “This abuse of power must end now.”
In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Zuckerberg said he regrets not being more outspoken about the “government pressure” on Meta to take down content related to COVID-19, including humor and satire.
“Like I said to our teams at the time, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction,” he wrote to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“We’re ready to push back if something like this happens again,” the Meto CEO added.
Although Zuckerberg did not provide details about the posts that Meta was pushed to take down or their political leanings, several Republican lawmakers understood this to refer to conservative content.
“Mark Zuckerberg finally admits what everyone already knew —that Facebook throttles conservative content on their platforms,” Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) wrote on X. “This is a great win for free speech, conservatives must continue to put pressure on government-media censorship.”
“It’s time to finally hold Big Tech accountable for their blatant censorship of conservatives,” Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) also said on X.
The White House defended its actions during the pandemic, noting that the Biden 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,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Read more at TheHill.com
