STOP THE PRESSES! This is a major story.
Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg has made a major admission. Despite years of denial by him, the Biden White House and virtually every Democrat on the planet, Zuckerberg now admits that not only did the White House put pressure on him and his staff to censor factually accurate information unfavorable to the Biden administration, but that he acquiesced to their demands.
The two most obvious incidents involved information related to the Covid Pandemic and the notorious Hunter Biden laptop.
In the first case, Facebook only allowed the view of the White House (read that as Dr. Anthony Fauci) on controversial issues – such as the benefits of masking in various situations or school and business closing policies.
In terms of the Hunter laptop, Facebook – at the demand of the White House – actually censored the truth in favor of the lie – that the laptop did not belong to Hunter but was a Russian hoax. This was particularly egregious since it arguably influenced the outcome of a close election.
The demands for censorship went beyond informational content but included humor and satire determined to be offensive by the White House. The Facebook censorship at the behest of Team Biden was so severe that Zuckerberg’s social media platform banned stories about the laptop reported in leading newspapers.
The admission by Zuckerberg is more than surprising. It is shocking. He confirms what Trump, Republicans and many media outlets were saying – a truth that came out much later.
Zuckerberg’s startling admission came in the form of a letter from the Facebook CEO to the House Judiciary Committee headed up by Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. In it, Zuckerberg referred to “repeated demands” by the White House — and that Biden officials would get angry when he denied requests he considered excessive.
In retrospect, Zuckerberg now considers all the requests and demands of the White House to be excessive. He apologized for not refusing the requests at the time – and for not informing the public of the pressure from the White House. He said he would not allow that to happen in the future.
When the accusation of improper censorship by the Biden Administration leaked out, then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the unprecedented actions as an effort to protect the public from disinformation.
The current White House has mounted a similar defense in the face of the Zuckerberg letter. It issued this statement.
“Our position has been clear and consistent: We believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”
The Biden White House position may be consistent, but it is far from clear. It is a meaningless platitude. It does not address the administration’s serious assault on free speech.
One should not diminish the magnitude of the abuse of power with regard to the Hunter laptop. The Biden White House concocted a totally phony story to protect the Biden family from the truth in order to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Team Biden not only told a huge lie, but they coerced the news services and social media platforms to restrict reporting to the phony Russian hoax claim – and censor the truth. They used the FBI and the intelligence community to parrot the lie – even though they knew better. Secretary of State Antony Blinken organized more than fifty current and former intel officials to sign a public letter propagating the lie.
Such chicanery should have minimally resulted in the removal of Blinken and FBI director Wray – and the stripping of security clearances for many of those who signed the letter. Such a flagrant abuse of presidential power and violation of the president’s oath to defend the Constitution could reasonably have resulted in an impeachment inquiry. But none of that happened or would happen with the current cultural and political bias.
Regardless, voters should not forget this travesty. And especially not forget that Vice President Harris was a key player in promoting what she most surely knew to be disinformation. She was in on the scheme from the get-go.
So, there ‘tis.