Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes the US government's pressure on his social networking platforms to take down certain Covid-19 content in 2021 was "misguided".
He said he would oppose such attempts in the future, according to a letter presented to a US congressional committee.
In the letter, addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and released by Republicans on the committee, Zuckerberg addressed a number of controversies centered on content moderation on his platforms.
He also assured that he does not plan to repeat his efforts to fund US election infrastructure ahead of the country's presidential election this year - donations that have drawn sharp criticism from Republicans.
Zuckerberg's appearance before the committee comes a little more than two months after a contested US presidential race that has focused attention on widespread online misinformation about the candidates.
Regarding the pandemic, the Facebook founder said the 2021 Biden administration "repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain content about Covid-19, including humor and satire."
"I believe the pressure from the government was misguided, and I'm sorry we weren't more open about it," Zuckerberg wrote.
"I strongly believe that we should not compromise our content standards because of pressure from any administration in any direction - and we stand ready to fight back if this happens again."
Zuckerberg also said he would not repeat his push to fund nonprofits working to support US election infrastructure because such donations are seen by Republicans as biased.
"My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or the other — or even appear to be playing a role," he wrote. | BGNES
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