Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that Facebook was wrong to censor the Hunter Biden story on the eve of the 2020 election, a stunning mea culpa from one of the titans of Big Tech.
In a letter to Congress, Zuckerberg made clear that Facebook's decision was influenced by the FBI's baseless warning about "Russian disinformation" against the Biden family.
In October of 2020, dozens of former intelligence agents signed a bogus letter claiming the laptop had "the classic earmarks of Russian disinformation." The letter was used by media organizations and the Biden campaign to dismiss the scandal, which was first publicized by the New York Post.
In his letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg said Facebook "demoted" the New York Post's reporting after an FBI warning.
“It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,” Zuckerberg added.
“We’ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again — for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers.”
Zuckerberg also issued a mea culpa for helping the Biden administration suppress so-called misinformation about COVID-19.
“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” he wrote. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”
Zuckerberg has shown more humility than the ex-intelligence officials who spread the "Russian disinformation" myth, who have stood by their misleading letter.
The laptop's authenticity has gradually been acknowledged by mainstream media outlets that buried the story in 2020 as well as the FBI, which confirmed the computer belonged to Hunter during his gun trial in June.
Zuckerberg also acknowledged the controversy over the $400 million he donated to support election administration in 2020. The infusion of money, labeled "Zuckerbucks," drove turnout in blue cities at the height of the COVID pandemic.
“They were designed to be nonpartisan — spread across urban, rural, and suburban communities,” he said. “Still, despite the analyses I’ve seen showing otherwise, I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other.”
“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”
Trump cried vindication after Zuckerberg's shocking confession, saying it proves that the "2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WAS RIGGED!"
