Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) has made public a set of “never-before-released” documents named “The Facebook Files, Part 1,” which provide evidence of Facebook’s compliance with the Biden regime’s request to censor specific content on its platform.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Rep. Jordan stated that these internal documents, obtained via Judiciary Committee subpoena, revealed that both Facebook and Instagram changed their content moderation policies and censored posts in response to pressure from the White House.
THE FACEBOOK FILES, PART 1: SMOKING-GUN DOCS PROVE FACEBOOK CENSORED AMERICANS BECAUSE OF BIDEN WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE
“What did the Biden White House want removed? A meme. That’s right, even memes weren’t spared from the Biden White House’s censorship efforts,” said Jordan.
Since April 2021, the meme has amassed an impressive 385k shares and received 19k reactions.
“During the first half of 2021, social media companies like Facebook faced tremendous pressure from the Biden White House, both publicly and privately, to crack down on alleged “misinformation,” Jordan wrote.
An internal email from April 2021, addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, indicated that the company was continuously urged by “external stakeholders,” including the Biden White House, to remove specific posts.
“We are seeking your guidance on whether to take more aggressive action against certain vaccine discouraging content,” according to the email.
“We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the White House and the press, to remove more COVID-19 vaccine discouraging content. For example, we recently shared with the White House a list of the top 100 vaccine-related posts on FB in the U.S. for the week of 4/5-4/11. While authoritative information dominated the list, the White House was concerned that the #3 post was a vaccine discouraging humorous meme, and they called on us to delete the meme,” the email concluded.
In the same month, an internal communication involving Facebook’s President for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, revealed an interaction with Andy Slavitt, a Senior Advisor to President Biden. Slavitt expressed being “outraged” that Facebook did not remove a specific post.
Clegg responded by emphasizing the potential violation of free expression norms in the US. However, Biden’s Senior Advisor, Andy Slavitt, seemingly disregarded this argument.
“I countered that removing content like that would represent a significant incursion into traditional boundaries of free expression in the US but he replied that the post was directly comparing Covid vaccines to asbestos poisoning in a way which demonstrably inhibits confidence in Covid vaccines amongst those the Biden Administration is trying to reach. [It would be very helpful if someone could please check whether this content was also available on YT – Andy’s assumption is that YT would never accept something like this],” according to the email.
In an April email, Brian Rice, Facebook’s VP of public policy, mentioned that the company’s relationship with the Biden regime was at a “crossroads” due to Slavitt’s demand.
With the aim of repairing relations and avoiding potential consequences, Facebook officials contemplated reassessing their ties with the Biden regime.
“Given what is at stake here, it would also be a good idea if we could regroup and take stock of where we are in our relations with the [White House], and our internal methods too,” according to the email.
The disclosed documents suggest that this was not an isolated incident. They reveal that the Biden administration requested an explanation from Facebook about why they had not censored a video from Tucker Carlson.
In July 2021, the pressure on Facebook reached new heights when Joe Biden accused the platform and other social media platforms of “killing people” due to their failure to censor what he deemed to be “misinformation.”
Per Rep. Jordan, on August 2, 2021, Facebook, under pressure from the Biden administration, announced that it would be implementing changes to its policies.
Rep. Jordan highlighted that Facebook not only caved to the White House’s pressure but also altered its policies based on the guidance of Biden’s Surgeon General, resulting in the censorship of the so-called “disinformation dozen.”
According to Rep. Jordan, the documents provided to the Committee reveal an abuse of power by the Biden administration, showcasing a totalitarian approach where Facebook was coerced into censoring American citizens and suppressing open discourse on vital public matters.
This development is linked to a lawsuit filed by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and current Senator Eric Schmitt, a former Missouri Attorney General. The lawsuit alleges that the President of the United States and other high-ranking officials in the Biden Administration violated the First Amendment by instructing social media companies to censor viewpoints that challenged the government’s messaging on Covid-19 and election integrity concerns surrounding the 2020 general election.
