Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook throttled the reach of Hunter Biden laptop stories prior to the 2020 presidential election after the FBI warned their employees to be on the lookout for Russian propaganda.
“The FBI, I think, basically came to us – some folks on our team – and was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, like, you should be on high alert… We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election,” Zuckerberg explained during a podcast with host Joe Rogan.
“‘We have it on notice that, basically, there’s about to be some kind of dump of that’s similar to that. So just be vigilant,'” he continued.
More than simply being vigilant, the Meta CEO admitted they suppressed the reach of stories involving Hunter’s laptop algorithmically.
Zuckerberg said that, unlike Twitter which had outright banned the story, Facebook users could still share the news but “the distribution on Facebook was decreased” and “fewer people saw it than would’ve otherwise.”
BREAKING: Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan that Facebook algorithmically censored the Hunter Biden laptop story for 7 days based on a general request from the FBI to restrict election misinformation. pic.twitter.com/llTA7IqGa1
— Minds? (@minds) August 25, 2022
Meta CEO Admits Facebook Suppressed Hunter Biden Stories Before Election
Zuckerberg’s admission seems a clear indication that “private” companies were taking direction from the government during an election.
The fact that his social media company, as a massive influencer of public opinion through the sharing of news stories fell for it, he told Rogan, “sucks.”
“When something like that turns out to be real, is there regret for not having it evenly distributed and for throttling the distribution of that story?” Rogan asked.
“Yeah, it sucks,” replied Zuckerberg. “It turned out after the fact, the fact-checkers looked into it, no one was able to say it was false … I think it sucks, though, in the same way that probably having to go through a criminal trial but being proven innocent in the end sucks.”
What a spot-on analogy. What Facebook, Twitter, and other social media giants did during that time was a crime against democracy.
Zuckerberg defended the actions taken by Facebook during that time despite the fact that they were akin to meddling in an election and resulted in an alteration of history by helping to propel Joe Biden into the White House.
Essentially, he believes by comparison to Twitter, his company’s actions and intentions were downright angelic.
“Our protocol is different than Twitter’s,” Zuckerberg said. “What Twitter did is they said you can’t share this at all. We didn’t do that.”
To quote motivational speaker Matt Foley: “Well, la-di-frickin-da!”
So the FBI preemptively warned Facebook off Hunter Biden laptop reporting. This same agency effectively laundered Russian disinfo in the 2016 election in the form of Steele dossier. And later lied to a court to get wiretaps https://t.co/wrD01hSbFe
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 26, 2022
RELATED: Brian Stelter: Hunter Biden Could Bring Down Joe’s 2024 Bid, ‘Not Just a Right-Wing Media Story’
FBI Slammed for ‘Collusion’
While Zuckerberg suggests the FBI did not specifically direct Facebook to steer clear of the Hunter Biden laptop story, the timing of the events that Zuckerberg relates is alarming.
“Did they specifically say you need to be on guard about that story?” Rogan asked.
“No, I don’t remember if it was that specifically, but it basically fit the pattern,” he responded.
If you’re wondering why Facebook almost immediately censored the NYPost story on Hunter Biden’s laptop, Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan that the FBI warned the company about “Russian disinformation” right before the story went live. pic.twitter.com/H34g8NZxHw
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 25, 2022
Did they have to state specifically what story to suppress? It doesn’t take a genius or a social media CEO to figure out what they wanted to be kept under wraps.
“Former” intel officials dutifully completed the circle, feeding the media narrative that Hunter Biden’s laptop was ‘disinformation.’
In a letter signed by over 50 intelligence officials published just weeks before the election, the authors admitted they “do not know if the emails [on Hunter Biden’s laptop] … are genuine” and that they “do not have evidence of Russian involvement.”
They published the letter regardless, essentially citing a hunch. They somehow magically warned about a hunch just as the laptop scandal was beginning to emerge and, like clockwork, Facebook and Twitter leaped into action.
Now, there is evidence they did this both publicly and privately. They were desperate to bury this story and the upcoming election was the sole reason. The corruption here is everywhere and obvious.
They destroyed their reputations by signing this letter and then not recanting for 16 months and counting. Some of these people appear to this day on CNN and MSNBC as esteemed experts on the war in Ukraine. The least they should do is declare a conflict of interest. pic.twitter.com/36ituz51MU
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) March 17, 2022
Zuckerberg’s explosive comments come amidst recent claims from Senator Chuck Grassley, who says high-ranking FBI whistleblowers have accused the Bureau, along with the Department of Justice (DOJ), of suppressing negative information about Hunter Biden prior to the 2020 election.
Grassley (R-IA), in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland dated July 25th, claimed the FBI had information in 2020 on alleged “criminal financial and related activity” engaged in by Hunter, but rather than investigate, set up a team to discredit it as ‘disinformation,’ a move that “caused investigative activity to cease.”
Away from the obvious fact that the FBI needs to be completely dismantled, is anyone else alarmed at how casually Zuckerberg admits this? https://t.co/2QbcyX2aIE
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) August 25, 2022
Outrage abounded after Mark Zuckerberg admitted to suppressing the Hunter Biden story prior to the election just as the FBI was warning them of Russian disinformation.
“The FBI rigged the 2020 election,” accused editor-in-chief of The Federalist Mollie Hemingway.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon simply wrote: “Collusion.”
Zuckerberg admits it: the FBI decides what you are allowed to know — even, and especially, when it incriminates Joe Biden https://t.co/sfyaQSAZkD
— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) August 26, 2022
If you, dear reader, were still under the illusion that the alphabet agencies are just impartial police looking out for the folks, let this disabuse you of that notion.
Zuckerberg’s feigning regret should be dismissed out of hand. “It sucks,” as he states, that they censored a completely legitimate story about Hunter and Joe Biden because the FBI warned them of Russian propaganda.
Sure thing, Chief. But you know what was never censored or suppressed prior to the 2020 election? Multiple false news stories about Donald Trump.
Why did you choose to only squash a story that benefitted one candidate in the election?
Interesting that Facebook suppressed none of the fake negative stories about Trump as a result of this FBI warning. https://t.co/SPOc7M1p0A
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) August 26, 2022
And it should be noted that Facebook didn’t stop there. Like Twitter, they would later ban Donald Trump, still the sitting President of the United States of America, from their platform.
These comments by Zuckerberg should be a massive news story.
It’s evidence and proof of one of the largest efforts to interfere in an election in modern times, and it comes straight from a bureau that is supposed to protect the integrity of this nation and uphold its laws.
The only question now is, what are Republicans going to do about it?
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