Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed in a recent interview with Joe Rogan that the Biden Administration pressured Facebook to suppress information about potential vaccine side effects. Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Zuckerberg detailed how the administration pushed the platform to remove content—even if it was factual—that discussed vaccine risks.
“In the beginning, it kind of seemed like, OK—we should give a little bit of deference to the government and the health authorities on how we should play this,” Zuckerberg said, referencing the early days of the pandemic. However, he noted that the shifting guidance from health authorities made it increasingly challenging to navigate censorship decisions.
“When it went from, you know, ‘two weeks to flatten the curve,’ to—you know, like in the beginning it was like, there aren’t enough masks, to masks aren’t that important, to Oh no, you have to wear a mask—everything was shifting around,” he said.
Zuckerberg described how the pressure from the Biden Administration intensified during the vaccine rollout. “I’m generally pretty pro-rolling out vaccines. I think, on balance, the vaccines are more positive than negative,” he said. “But while they’re trying to push that program, they also tried to censor anyone who was basically arguing against it. And they pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly true.”
Zuckerberg recounted his response to the administration’s demands: “They basically pushed us and said, you know, anything that says that vaccines might have side effects, you basically need to take down. And I was just like, we’re not going to do that. We’re clearly not going to do that. That is inarguably true. It was people in the Biden Administration.”
He also revealed the extent of pressure from the Biden administration, stating, “These people from the Biden Administration would call up our team and, like, scream at them and curse. It’s like, these documents—it’s all kind of out there… The emails are published, it’s all kind of out there. And basically, it just got to this point where we were like, ‘No, we’re not going to take down things that are true. That’s ridiculous.'”
He cited a specific example where the administration demanded the removal of a meme featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, which joked about future class-action lawsuits for COVID vaccine recipients. “They’re like, ‘No, you have to take that down,'” Zuckerberg recounted. “We said, ‘No, we’re not going to take down humor and satire. We’re not going to take down things that are true.'”
Only, that’s exactly what they did do. Not only did Caldron Pool face significant censorship during the COVID era for questioning mandates and advocating caution regarding vaccines, but the site’s founder even had his entire personal page permanently suspended.
Earlier this week, Zuckerberg announced a major revamp of the company’s content moderation policies, framing the changes as a commitment to free speech. Among the key updates are replacing fact-checkers with an X-style community-driven notes system, easing restrictions on controversial topics like immigration and gender, and relocating moderation teams from California to Texas to incorporate “diverse perspectives.”
Critics, however, remain doubtful, citing his lack of apology, failure to reinstate banned accounts, and Meta’s history of favouring partisan narratives. While some, like Elon Musk, welcomed the changes, others questioned Zuckerberg’s sincerity, pointing to similar unfulfilled promises made in 2019.
Many speculate that Zuckerberg’s announcement is an attempt to distance himself from the platform’s role in alleged human rights violations during the COVID era. Others see it as a strategic PR move to position Meta favorably ahead of the second Trump administration, rather than a genuine policy shift. In this case, actions will speak louder than words, and only time will tell with Zuckerberg has truely seen the light.
