New documents released Thursday reveal Facebook willingly censored content the government deemed “misinformation.”
According to a House Judiciary Committee report last week, the company removed or demoted some users’ posts and accounts after facing pressure from the White House to censor certain content.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, subpoenaed Meta in February for information about its use of content moderation. Mark Zuckerberg dragged his feet on providing the requested documents, waiting until Thursday, the day Congress intended to vote whether to hold him in contempt for refusing to turn them over.
Unconstitutional Activity
In 2021, the White House flagged posts that it deemed contained “misinformation,” including those questioning the efficacy of masks to prevent COVID or promoting the Wuhan lab leak theory. One employee claimed that the Biden administration encouraged Meta to remove content that discouraged people from getting the COVID vaccine, and documents reveal that Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, intentionally disregarded the First Amendment by removing that content.
In June, a judge ruled that the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies about content moderation likely violated the First Amendment.
Facebook also informed the White House that it removed one of Tucker Carlson’s videos, despite its failure to violate any policies, “because it directs people not to get the vaccine.” Facebook then removed the video and placed it in a “queue to be fact checked.”
Jordan tweeted that Zuckerberg could still be held in criminal contempt for Meta’s obvious violations of the Constitution.
“These documents, AND OTHERS that were just produced to the Committee, prove that the Biden Admin abused its powers to coerce Facebook into censoring Americans, preventing free and open discourse on issues of critical public importance,” Jordan tweeted.
Emma Verrigni is a rising sophomore at Hillsdale College studying history and journalism. A member of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class, Emma enjoys reading philosophy and the news.
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