Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, recently shared some insights during a lively three-hour chat with Joe Rogan on his podcast. He mentioned that the Biden administration had urged Meta to remove posts discussing the side effects of Covid vaccines.
Kicking off the discussion, Zuckerberg, who views vaccines as generally beneficial, expressed concern about the administration’s attempts to stifle opposing perspectives on the subject. “While promoting the vaccine rollout, there was a push to silence critics,” he told Rogan.
The administration’s silence was noticeable as they didn’t respond to requests for comments on Zuckerberg’s allegations. This revelation follows closely behind Meta’s decision to shift its content validation approach. Instead of relying on external fact-checkers, Meta plans to engage its user community with annotations to ensure information accuracy. This move mirrors a strategy seen on platforms like X, championed by Elon Musk, a notable supporter of President-elect Donald Trump.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first sign of Meta aligning itself with the incoming government. Meta recently appointed Joel Kaplan, a Republican and former policy director, to replace Nick Clegg as president of global affairs. Moreover, it’s reported that Meta would contribute significantly to Trump’s inauguration.
In response to Meta’s announced policy change, President Biden voiced his dissatisfaction in a press briefing. “It’s troubling when billionaires influence platforms to eschew fact-checking, creating an environment ripe for misinformation,” Biden stated.
Zuckerberg had previously voiced his concerns with the Biden administration’s take on Covid content. In a letter addressing the House Judiciary Committee, he recounted the pressures faced to remove specific content and regretted the actions taken in response to such pressures.
Recounting his experience to Rogan, Zuckerberg said, “They pushed us to take down any claims about vaccine side effects, even if those claims were factual.” He noted not being directly involved in the government conversations but maintained that Meta resisted removing undeniably true information.
The FDA, back in 2021, listed side effects such as headaches and fatigue from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, amidst global recognition of Covid vaccines’ life-saving impact during the pandemic’s peak.
Switching gears, Zuckerberg also mentioned the lack of support from the U.S. government for its technology sector compared with foreign regulators. With regulatory fines exceeding $30 billion in the EU over two decades, he sees potential for positive change under Trump’s leadership and advocacy for American innovation and success.
Concluding the conversation, Zuckerberg’s mixed feelings about government intervention and platform responsibility remain at the forefront of discussions about the intersection of technology and governance.
