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3 weeks ago
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X CEO Elon Musk has branded the revelations that the Biden administration put pressure on Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, to censor COVID misinformation as a 'First Amendment violation.'
In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee's chairman Jim Jordan, which was published last night, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration was 'wrong' to demand Facebook censor what they deemed 'COVID misinformation' during the pandemic.
Zuckerberg, 40, promised that Meta fight back against any future attempts at censorship and also admitted the company had 'demoted' stories about Hunter Biden's laptop.
He wrote that the White House 'repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn't agree'.
Elon Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, said the episode 'sounds like a First Amendment violation', in a post to X, his social media platform.
X CEO Elon Musk (pictured) branded the Facebook revelations as a 'First Amendment violation'
Zuckerberg admitted that Meta demoted stories about Hunter Biden (pictured, right, with father Joe Biden) and his laptop
Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) promised not to cow to further pressure
Zuckerberg said the White House's pressure 'was wrong' and says he regrets 'that we were not more outspoken about it'
Musk took to X to voice his concerns following last night's revelation
He later said on X: 'Just want to reiterate that this platform really is meant to support all viewpoints within the bounds of the laws of countries, even those of people with whom I vehemently disagree and personally dislike.
'If that doesn’t seem to be happening, please yell at me (ideally on X).'
Zuckerberg said the White House's pressure 'was wrong' and says he regrets 'that we were not more outspoken about it'.
'We made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn't make today,' he added.
'I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction - and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again.'
A spokesperson for the White House previously told DailyMail.com in a statement that the Biden administration's policy is to encourage big tech to act responsibly.
In a statement to X, Congressman Jim Jordan called the letter a 'big win for free speech'
Many Republicans believe suppression of the story led to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' win
Zuckerberg also admitted the company 'shouldn't have demoted' the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 election
'When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this 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 Meta spokesperson meanwhile told the Washington Post that the letter spoke for itself.
It comes just two months after it was revealed that ex-intelligence officials were actively being paid by the CIA on a contract basis when they signed the letter that falsely claimed Hunter Biden's laptop was 'Russian disinformation.'
Michael Morell, former deputy director of the CIA, and former CIA Inspector General David Buckley was another, according to a bombshell new report from the House Judiciary Committee.
Morell was the one who organized the letter after a call from now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He said he did it to give Biden a 'talking point' in the lead-up to the 2020 election when Trump attacked him for the laptop that was later verified to be his son's.
Zuckerberg also said that Meta would not repeat what it did in 2020, funding non-profits to fund local election efforts, which Republicans criticized as 'Zuckerbucks'
Zuckerberg wrote that the Biden White House 'repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn't agree'
According to the report, high-ranking CIA officials were made aware of the letter before its publishing and some raised concerns about the political nature of the letter.
'The signatories’ decision to leverage their former intelligence community titles to promote a narrative about foreign election interference improperly embroiled the [CIA] in domestic politics,' the report states saying it 'underscores the potential dangers of a politicized intelligence community.'
The free speech row in the US comes as France is facing its own growing squabble, after French authorities arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.
Durov, 39, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday, after OFMIN, a French government agency responsible for protecting minors from violence, issued an arrest warrant for him.
He was accused of facilitating organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, cyberbullying, and the promotion of terrorism on his platform, which has around 950million users worldwide.
Musk also weighed in on Durov's arrest, posting '#FreePavel' alongside a video of the Telegram CEO praising X in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
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