Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday reiterated the Biden administration’s censorship demands, without naming names. However, a 2024 House of Commons Judiciary Committee report revealed that the recently demoted Nick Clegg was the main facilitator of these requests.
Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan on Friday that Biden administration officials had been “screaming” and “abusing” members of his team. He also said he is calling for authorities to censor factual information, jokes and memes.
a report The House Judiciary released details of communications from Biden senior adviser Andy Slavitt and White House digital director Rob Flaherty to Clegg requesting that he remove posts criticizing vaccines.
Mr. Clegg, who Mehta demoted from his position as president of global public policy in favor of Republican Joel Kaplan in early January, about an email he received from Mr. Slavitt during internal communications with Facebook employees. detailed in testimony.
“I just got off [an] An hour-long call with Andy Slavitt. . . . [H]He was furious – not very strong words to describe his reaction – that we didn’t take the post down.” Clegg He is said to have said.
The post in question was a meme.
A screenshot of a meme that White House senior adviser Andy Slavitt asked Facebook to remove. Screenshot/House Judiciary Committee/Censorship and the Industrial Complex: How Biden White House Officials Forced Big Tech Companies to Censor Americans, True Information, and Critics of the Biden Administration
“While I countered that removing such content would represent a significant incursion into the traditional boundaries of freedom of expression in the United States, the posting clearly appeared in a way that undermined confidence,” Clegg said. “He replied that he was directly comparing the coronavirus vaccine to asbestos poisoning,” the lawsuit alleges. Among the vaccines the Biden administration is trying to accomplish is a vaccine for the new coronavirus. ”
In another email in April 2021, Nick Clegg, Facebook’s president of global affairs, told the Facebook team that Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to President Biden, was “furious.” . . that [Facebook] I didn’t delete any specific posts. pic.twitter.com/5muflAQjcx
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 27, 2023
Clegg, who at one point internally questioned Meta’s decision to remove rather than suppress coronavirus content, told the House Judiciary Committee that the meme He said he was hesitant about deleting it.
“And it was clear to me that if Big Tech platforms started taking action against overt satire, humor and antics online, that would set a pretty important precedent,” Clegg said. testified, the report said. (Related: Facebook questions accuracy of influential ‘disinformation’ study, emails reveal White House was being used to advance censorship)
But despite his reluctance, Mr Clegg shared his personal cell phone number with Mr Slavitt and exchanged non-public information, according to the report.
The House Judiciary report is not new, but Zuckerberg’s Rogan interview and recent meta-policy changes shed new light on the censorship story. Mr. Zuckerberg chose not to mention Mr. Clegg or other senior Biden White House officials by name, but their identities and actions are all a matter of public record thanks to the House Judiciary’s report.
It is unclear why their names have not been reported. As Zach has said repeatedly, it’s all out in the open. of @judiciaryGOP The report clearly says it was Andy Slavitt and (Harris deputy campaign manager) Rob Flaherty. https://t.co/MiTzasJFAd pic.twitter.com/YDOpTOqOuB
— Emily Kopp (@emilyakopp) January 12, 2025
