Emails Exposed: The Biden Admin's Role in Facebook Censorship

Shortly after President Joe Biden's inauguration, his White House pressured Facebook and Instagram censors to remove posts protected by the First Amendment if they contradicted the government's Covid messaging, as revealed by emails uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee.

Facebook handed over the documents regarding the censorship collusion only after the committee threatened to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt. Chairman Jim Jordan stated that these documents clearly show that government pressure directly led to censorship on Facebook.

Jordan tweeted that the newly produced documents provided to the Committee prove that the Biden Administration misused its powers to coerce Facebook into censoring Americans and stifling open discussion on critical public issues.

In the initial emails to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, concerns were expressed about the White House wanting Facebook to remove more COVID-19 vaccine-discouraging content. An unnamed employee shared a list of top vaccine-related posts and mentioned the White House's specific concern about a vaccine-discouraging humorous meme ranked third on the list, which they were asked to delete.

The meme featured Leonardo DiCaprio pointing to a television screen with a caption referencing a future advertisement about Covid vaccines.

Another email from Facebook's President for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, confirmed that Biden's Senior Adviser, Andy Slavitt, was furious about Facebook's reluctance to remove the comedic content. Clegg pushed back, citing concerns about free expression boundaries, but Slavitt insisted that content inhibiting confidence in Covid vaccines should not be allowed on Big Tech platforms.

Despite the warning about First Amendment implications, Slavitt disregarded it, as Chairman Jordan confirmed.

Following backlash from Biden's team, Facebook's Vice President of Public Policy, Brian Rice, expressed the need to reassess their relationship with the White House and their internal methods. They were at a critical juncture in their dealings with the Biden administration.

Behind the scenes, Facebook prepared explanations to offer the White House regarding why vaccine-critical monologues from Tucker Carlson were only reduced and demoted instead of being completely banned.

While private pressure mounted on Facebook, Jordan noted that the White House and other Biden-led agencies launched a public campaign calling for Big Tech to censor dissidents shortly after the incriminating emails were exchanged.

By August, Facebook decided to ask its censorship team to brainstorm additional policy levers to be more aggressive against misinformation due to ongoing criticism from the Biden administration.

Jordan stated that as long as Facebook cooperates with the Republican investigation, the Committee will hold contempt in abeyance, but emphasized that contempt remains an option if Facebook fails to fully cooperate.

Last week, Jordan revealed in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray that the FBI admitted the authenticity of Hunter Biden's laptop on the day the New York Post published its bombshell report, but then changed its narrative to "no further comment" and refused to acknowledge the laptop's veracity to other Big Tech companies ahead of the 2020 election.