Mark Zuckerberg Says Biden Officials Berated Meta Staff As They Refused To Remove 'True' Content: 'It Just Got To This Point...That's Ridiculous'

Ananya Gairola

January 10, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta (NASDAQ:META), has admitted that officials from the Biden administration have been exerting pressure on Meta staff to remove specific content from the platform.

What Happened: During an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast on Friday, Zuckerberg recounted instances where Biden administration officials aggressively confronted Meta staff over content removal requests. “Basically, these people from the Biden administration would call up our team and, like, scream at them and curse,” Zuckerberg shared with Rogan, the podcast host.

“It just got to this point where we were like, ‘No, we’re not gonna, we’re not gonna take down things that are true. That’s ridiculous,” Zuckerberg said.

SEE ALSO: Netflix’s ‘WWE Monday Night Raw’ Premiere More Than Doubles 2024 USA Network Audience

The cat is out of the bag and the real OGs of internet culture and freedom are ready to lead. pic.twitter.com/ZnPkHRx3VH
— Joe Rogan Podcast (@joeroganhq) January 10, 2025

Zuckerberg also noted that Facebook occasionally complied with the White House’s requests but hinted that the platform would approach such decisions differently in the future.

Why It Matters: This is not the first time Zuckerberg has spoken about the Biden administration’s pressure on Meta. In August, Zuckerberg revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, senior Biden administration officials pressured Meta to censor certain content on its platforms. He expressed regret for not opposing the pressure sooner and acknowledged certain decisions made by Meta in removing content during that period.

Meanwhile, in November 2024, Zuckerberg reportedly met with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Earlier that year, Trump had threatened legal action against Zuckerberg if elected, accusing the Meta CEO of plotting against him while appearing friendly during visits to the Oval Office.

Last month, the Meta CEO also donated $1 million to support the inauguration events for President-elect Trump. This marked Meta's first contribution to an inauguration fund.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.

Read Next:

Dana White Wanted Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg In Cage Fight, Now He’s On Meta’s Board Of Directors

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia

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