Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now admitting “a bunch of” COVID information that Facebook censored as “misinformation” was actually true, and the collusion of its so-called “fact-checkers” with government authorities who proved to be wrong on the coronavirus undermined public trust.
“Unfortunately, I think a lot of the kind of establishment on that kind of waffled on a bunch of facts and asked for a bunch of things to be censored that, in retrospect, ended up being more debatable or true,” Zuckerberg said in a lengthy interview Friday on the Lex Fridman podcast. “That stuff is really tough, right? It really undermines trust.”
Mark Zuckerberg says it was challenging to censor COVID misinformation because the scientific establishment was frequently wrong, which ultimately undermined public trust:
"Just take some of the stuff around COVID earlier in the pandemic where there were real health… pic.twitter.com/y0ZaX4kmCE
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) June 9, 2023
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is among the most powerful tech companies in the world, with those apps used by more than three billion people. It has long censored viewpoints not in line with prevailing liberal-left orthodoxies, ranging from the LGBT agenda to gun rights, but during the COVID pandemic it worked directly with government agencies to censor dissenting views.
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As WND reported May 27, Facebook had “falsely claimed” that “concerns that the virus was either intentionally created and released like a bioweapon or was accidentally loosed were ‘debunked.’”
Meta, along with other Big Tech giants including Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon and Google, punished dissidents like Dr. Peter McCullough and “America’s Frontline Doctors” who offered preventative treatments for COVID, especially for Americans who were wary of the rushed COVID vaccines.
Popular Twitter account @KanekoaTheGreat tweeted “Mark Zuckerberg says it was challenging to censor COVID misinformation because the scientific establishment was frequently wrong, which ultimately undermined public trust,” as he sent out the money quote from Zuckerberg: “Just take some of the stuff around COVID earlier in the pandemic where there were real health implications, but there hadn’t been time to fully vet a bunch of the scientific assumptions. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the kind of establishment on that kind of waffled on a bunch of facts and asked for a bunch of things to be censored that, in retrospect, ended up being more debatable or true. That stuff is really tough, right? It really undermines trust.”
People who were censored by Facebook for posting what they said was life-saving information about COVID reacted to Zuckerberg by saying his admission did not go nearly far enough and recalling what Facebook had done.
Jovan Grahovac tweeted: “I left [Facebook] because they wouldn’t let me mention HCQ [hydroxychloroquine] even within my own network. They censored me even when I cited renowned French researchers. Deleted my profile and never looked back. The only regret is I didn’t do it earlier.”
Then in response, @PViking said, “I was on FB too and America’s Frontline Doctors reported HCQ was a cure and prevention for COVID and watched them almost immediately squashed, doxed, fired, de-licensed, etc. It was horrible to see REAL doctors, treating REAL patients with REAL results attacked. FB killed people?”
I was on FB too and America's Frontline Doctors reported HCQ was a cure and prevention for COVID and watched them almost immediately squashed, doxed, fired, de-licensed, etc. It was horrible to see REAL doctors, treating REAL patients with REAL results attacked. FB killed people?
— PViking (@HultinPeder) June 9, 2023
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Tweeted Larry Boorstein: “‘They censored a bunch of stuff that turns out to be true. And Mark Zuckerberg thinks the only problem is it undermines public trust? That’s not the half of it. The public was deprived of truthful factual information because of censorship. That harmed public [health].”
GrammyBlick tweeted along the same lines: “HCQ was prescribed for my husband ([age] 79) two years before COVID as a maintenance drug. He has an incurable autoimmune [disease]. We got COVID-19 10/2020, pre-vax. He was hospitalized 4 days. I credit HCQ and was asked by FB to remove a positive post.”
I left FB because they wouldn't let me mention HCQ even within my own network. They censored me even when I cited renowned French researchers. Deleted my profile and never looked back. The only regret is I didn't do it earlier.
— Jovan Grahovac 🇺🇸 🇷🇸 (@JovanGrahovac01) June 9, 2023
“He is complicit in crimes against humanity!” tweeted Rob Denman Monday.
He is complicit in crimes against humanity! https://t.co/ixGsR3PLXn
— Rob Denman (@rden4654) June 12, 2023
Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to the tweet containing the Zuckerberg video excerpt by quote-tweeting: “The awakening continues. It’s dawning on establishment figures like Mark Zuckerberg that they were complicit in a web of deception during COVID.”
Dr. Jay Bhattachaya, a Stanford professor of health policy and prominent COVID dissident who was shadow-banned by social media companies for opposing lockdowns and extended school closures, responded: “Zuckerberg’s served as an enforcer for government propaganda during the pandemic. His regime of censorship on Facebook – in which falsehoods were allowed and truth censored – enabled school closures, vax mandates, toddler masking, and much else. Glad to see some humility here.”
Zuckerberg's served as an enforcer for government propaganda during the pandemic. His regime of censorship on Facebook — in which falsehoods were allowed and truth censored — enabled school closures, vax mandates, toddler masking, and much else. Glad to see some humility here. https://t.co/42alkuKXFp
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) June 9, 2023
Invariably on Twitter, with each admission by a liberal elite who once eagerly participated in mass COVID censorship that it was ill-conceived, conservatives reminded their followers through video how foolishly and capriciously Big Tech corporations applied their “misinformation” policies.
Conservative reporter Tom Elliott tweeted, “Reality Is a Conspiracy” with a video compilation of the atrocious record and flip-flopping of COVID power elites like Anthony Fauci and their media sycophants:
Covid Retrospective Series, Vol. 3
Reality Is a Conspiracy pic.twitter.com/sW6h6WzAhX
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 26, 2023
Conservative Tracy Beanz of UncoverDC.com responded to Zuckerberg’s comment: “If you are following my reporting on Missouri v. Biden – you will understand why this is important. This case is pitting the [U.S. government] against the social media companies. If the social media companies say they removed content willingly – like the government wants them to, they will lose Section 230. If they don’t? They may have other problems.”
If you are following my reporting on Missouri v. Biden – you will understand why this is important. This case is pitting the US Gov against the social media companies. If the social media companies say they removed content willingly – like the government wants them to, they will… https://t.co/T9f6HaQb2l
— Tracy Beanz (@tracybeanz) June 9, 2023
The interview not surprisingly reveals both Zuckerberg and Fridman to be on the political left, with the latter, after interviewing Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, calling the online encyclopedia “one of the greatest websites ever created, and it’s kind of a miracle that it works” – to which Zuckerberg largely agrees. Both praise the “balance” that Wikipedia has been able to achieve, a notion that would draw hearty derision from scores of conservatives whose entries have been distorted by Wikipedia.
The two spent a lot of time discussing AI, artificial intelligence, Fridman’s passion as an AI researcher.
IMPORTANT NOTE: “Election denier!” “Science denier!” “Climate-change denier!” “Conspiracy theorist!” And then there’s “hate speech,” “fake news,” “disinformation,” “misinformation,” even something called “MALinformation.” A bizarre new lexicon has been conjured up by America’s elites, the SOLE PURPOSE of which is to discredit and ridicule – and if at all possible, CENSOR ENTIRELY – speech that doesn’t support their increasingly dark and deranged agenda. Tucker Carlson is just the latest.
In the greatest imaginable irony, the nation once boasting the most robust culture of freedom of speech and the press – undergirded by the strongest constitutional protections for those rights – is now ground zero for a total war on free expression.
How could this possibly happen in the United States of America? It’s all explained as never before in the sensational new issue of WND’s critically acclaimed WHISTLEBLOWER magazine, titled “THE ELITES’ ALL-OUT WAR ON FREE SPEECH.” WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
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This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
Related:
- Man Receives 15 Month Prison Sentence For COVID-Related Facebook Post
- Facebook Admits Censorship of COVID Origin Stories Was Fake News
- Tucker Interviews Facebook Whistleblower Who Exposed ‘Vaccine Hesitancy’ Algorithm (Video)
- Kevin McCarthy: FBI ‘Colluded’ With Zuckerberg To Help Joe Biden! (Video)
- Does Zuckerberg belong in prison?
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