House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote on Friday that President Joe Biden pressured Facebook to remove “humorous” posts about the coronavirus vaccine and “true information” about coronavirus vaccine side effects.
After the threat of a congressional censure, Facebook has appeared to comply with Jordan’s subpoena which revealed the extent to which the Biden administration tried to censor information about the coronavirus vaccine.
Mark Zuckerberg looking puzzled ( AFP/Getty)
Jordan noted that in the summer of 2021, Biden was pushing Americans to get vaccinated, which included a public and “SECRET” campaign to “get Facebook to more aggressively police vaccine-related content, including “TRUE information.”
Jordan noted that Facebook employees initially bristled at the government’s demand to censor information.
One employee said that “their [Biden admin] definition of ‘misinfo’ is completely unclear.”
“It also just seems like when the vaccination campaign isn’t going as hoped, it’s convenient for them to blame us,” the Facebook employee wrote.
Facebook employees initially bristled at President Biden’s accusation. pic.twitter.com/rQDvRc1cSe
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 28, 2023
Jordan revealed that the White House wanted to remove “humorous or satirical content that suggests the vaccine isn’t safe.”
The Biden administration also wanted to remove “true information about side effects” for the coronavirus vaccine “if the user does not provide complete information about whether the side effect is rare and treatable.”
Facebook also considered “blackholing” certain domains, although Nick Clegg, Facebook’s president for global affairs, said that the “idea doesn’t work after all.”
“My sense is that our current course—in effect explaining ourselves more fully, but not shifting on where we draw the lines…is a recipe for protracted and increasing acrimony with the [White House],” Clegg wrote.
Facebook agreed in August 2021 to change its content moderation policies because of the Biden administration’s pressure.
Jordan wrote, “These subpoenaed documents continue to reveal the Biden administration’s efforts to censor speech,” teasing that they will have more revelations from Facebook.
These subpoenaed documents continue to reveal the Biden administration’s efforts to censor speech.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 28, 2023
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.