Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) recently unveiled undisclosed information concerning White House efforts to suppress the lab leak theory of Covid-19 on Facebook.
Elon Musk described the explosive information as a “Smoking gun First Amendment violation.”
On July 16, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg texted Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg, and Joel Kaplan.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 1, 2024
Three of the highest ranking executives at Facebook.
Could Facebook tell the world that “the [Biden] WH put pressure on us to censor the lab leak theory?" pic.twitter.com/B1Wno3ayTW
Smoking gun First Amendment violation
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2, 2024
Jordan initially shared a text message from Mark Zuckerberg to Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg, and Joel Kaplan—the company’s top executives.
In the message, Zuckerberg inquired whether Facebook can publicly disclose that “the [Biden] WH put pressure on us to censor the lab leak theory?”
The message was sent hours after Biden accused Facebook of “killing people.”
Clegg described the Biden White House as “highly cynical and dishonest.”
Sandberg then said they were being scapegoated due to the White House’s failure to meet its vaccination targets.
Facebook felt that they had been combatting alleged misinformation—aka censoring Americans—all year! pic.twitter.com/HQxQKrwX5z
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 1, 2024
Jordan outlined that “Facebook felt that they had been combatting alleged misinformation—aka censoring Americans—all year!”
He further highlighted, “Since February 2021, the company had been censoring the ‘Wuhan lab leak theory’ ‘in response to … tense conversations with the new [Biden] Administration.'”
Since February 2021, the company had been censoring the “Wuhan lab leak theory” “in response to … tense conversations with the new [Biden] Administration.” pic.twitter.com/lB9wg7tlDe
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 1, 2024
Facebook ceased removing content on the lab leak theory in late May of 2021, instead opting to demote it.
When employees informed Zuckerberg about the reversal, the Facebook CEO responded that this outcome resulted from the company “compromising [its] standards due to pressure from an administration.”
These documents show the CHILLING EFFECT government coercion has on free expression.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 1, 2024
Facebook knew the White House wanted them to censor, but they didn’t exactly know what or how much.
Zuckerberg asserted that the scientific “establishment” requested his platform to “censor” posts concerning COVID-19 that were “debatable or true.”
During an episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” Zuckerberg discussed the “issues and challenges” associated with removing “misinformation.”
Zuckerberg emphasized the complexity of addressing “false” content, adding, “Are you going to censor someone for just being wrong if there’s no kind of harm implication of what they’re doing?”
He pointed to the y stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when scientific assumptions had not yet been fully vetted amid significant health implications
Zuckerberg claimed the “establishment” encouraged him to enforce these shaky facts, saying they “asked for a bunch of things to be censored that, in retrospect, ended up being more debatable or true.”
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