Monday, October 27, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About TimeAfrica Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » Column » Opinion | Mark Zuckerberg Just Blew the Whistle on Biden’s Contempt for Free Speech

Opinion | Mark Zuckerberg Just Blew the Whistle on Biden’s Contempt for Free Speech

September 3, 2024
in Column, Featured
0
542
SHARES
4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Brad Polumbo
Co-Founder of BASEDPolitics


Apparently, Joe Biden can’t take a joke. Oh, and he also has contempt for the principle of free expression online.

Both these revelations were just confirmed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who on Monday evening blew the whistle on the Biden administration’s attempts to pressure his company to censor content relating to the COVID-19 pandemic—including “humor and satire.” Zuckerberg confirmed in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee that they did make changes to their “enforcement” (read: censorship) in light of this pressure and that the White House expressed “a lot of frustration” with the company when their take-down demands weren’t always met.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong,” Zuckerberg wrote, “and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it. I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

ReadAlso

CIA Can Read WhatsApp Messages — Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg Is Reportedly Building an Underground Bunker in Hawaii

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 31: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony from the… More ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

“We’re ready to push back if something like this happens again,” the CEO concluded. And it very well might, because the Biden administration evidently does not regret taking this approach.

“When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety,” the White House said in response to this story. “Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”

ADVERTISEMENT

(Translation: We still think the government knows best and should get to dictate to companies what ideas Americans can express on their platforms.)

Ultimately, Zuckerberg’s revelations just confirm what we already knew from the Twitter Files and other extensive reporting: that the Biden administration has used the might of the federal government (which has extensive regulatory and financial power over Big Tech companies) to pressure social media platforms to take down the otherwise First-Amendment-protected speech of American citizens.

This is a potential red flag on a legal and constitutional level, as the extent to which government pressure campaigns on private companies to take down Americans’ speech, known as “jawboning,” violate the First Amendment is an active legal question. It’s currently working its way through the courts and it also depends on whether the government’s actions were at all coercive or purely suggestive.

So, without many more details and further litigation, it’s too soon to say whether the Biden administration’s actions pressuring Meta to censor COVID-19 information—and even jokes!—actually violated the letter of the First Amendment. But we absolutely can conclude that they reveal a deeply misguided disdain for the general principle of free expression.

Think about it: During a deadly pandemic that claimed the lives of millions of Americans, the federal government spent time and money that could’ve gone toward public awareness, test availability, vaccine rollout, research, or reopening schools and the economy on … trying to get jokes and the “wrong” information censored off social media. One clear problem with this is just the matter of utterly, utterly misplaced priorities. But more crucially, there’s a fundamental arrogance behind Biden’s actions that has aged incredibly poorly.

The Biden administration assumed that they were infallible “experts” and knew the “truth” about COVID-19, so much so that they sought to shut down anyone who contradicted them online. But government experts, like all human beings, are not, in fact, perfect or all-knowing. During the pandemic, experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci were wrong or inconsistent about everything from masks to social distancing to how COVID-19 vaccines worked to herd immunity to the “lab leak” theory of COVID-19’s origins.

Yet they nonetheless sought to put their thumb on the scale to ensure that only their version of “the truth” could be expressed online.

It’s no surprise that in some although certainly not all cases, those people spreading “misinformation” on Facebook have turned out to be, well … right. For example, Meta—potentially due to the federal government’s pressure—originally censored people who claimed COVID might have originated in a lab, calling it a “conspiracy theory.” Now, it’s considered an entirely legitimate theory that even the FBI thinks is the most likely cause of the pandemic.

If the Biden administration had gotten its way and fully squelched this “misinformation,” we might never have evolved in our understanding of such a fundamental issue. This is just more proof that it’s the free marketplace of ideas that leads to truth over time, not the imposition of one understanding from the halls of Washington, D.C.

You would think that the White House would’ve gained some humility from the pandemic era after making so many mistakes and maybe even realized its own fallibility. But if Biden’s response to Mark Zuckerberg’s revelations is anything to go by, the President’s disdain for free expression online hasn’t dissipated at all.

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is an independent journalist, YouTuber, co-founder of BASEDPolitics, and Tony Blankley fellow at the Steamboat Institute.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.

Tags: Biden's ContemptFree SpeechMark Zuckerberg
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Video Threatening to ‘Poison’ Yoruba and Edo Exposed as Hoax; Ohanaeze Ndigbo Denies Igbo Connection

Next Post

Telegram CEO Durov Charged in France Over Alleged Criminal Activity on App

You MayAlso Like

Column

Peter Obi | The Imperative of Diversifying Port Development in Nigeria

October 25, 2025
Column

PDP: Why Tanimu Turaki Holds the Key to Party Rebirth

October 20, 2025
Column

Peter Mbah Breaks the Chains

October 14, 2025
A protester reacts while running past a burning tyre used as a barricade during clashes with Malagasy security forces amid a strike calling for constitutional reforms and the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina in Antananarivo. [Luis Tato/AFP]
Featured

Madagascar in Turmoil: Unpacking Root Causes Behind Violent Antigovernment Protests

October 12, 2025
Column

Burundi endures ‘worst economic crisis in a country not at war’

October 11, 2025
Column

Monday Onyeme: A ‘spare tyre’s’ golden heart

October 11, 2025
Next Post

Telegram CEO Durov Charged in France Over Alleged Criminal Activity on App

Man Seeks Help After Wife Gives Birth to 11 Babies in Benin Republic

Discussion about this post

Ogwashi-Uku Community Launches Fiery Protests Against Obi Okonjo, Accuse Him of “Enslaving The People!”

Anambra Audit Report Uncovers Over N725Million In Unretired Funds, Missing Vehicles, Fraudulent Contracts

President Tinubu Changes Service Chiefs

The Task Ahead: Kabiru Turaki and PDP’s Rebuilding Mission

NITEL, Now Ntel, Set for 2026 Comeback

Open Letter to the Enugu State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1242 shares
    Share 497 Tweet 311
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1068 shares
    Share 427 Tweet 267
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    975 shares
    Share 390 Tweet 244
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    905 shares
    Share 362 Tweet 226
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    738 shares
    Share 295 Tweet 185
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0

Protests Erupt as Young Cameroonians Demand Recognition of Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s Victory

October 26, 2025

Nigerian Doctors Declare Indefinite Nationwide Strike From November 1

October 26, 2025

Turaki: Blending Integrity, Loyalty, and Vision in PDP Leadership

October 26, 2025

Iyasei of Ogwashi Uku, Chief Mike Nwaukoni marks annual Ineh Festival in grand style

October 26, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIMEAFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIMEAFRICA MAGAZINE biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About TimeAfrica Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 TimeAfrica Magazine - All Right Reserved. TimeAfrica Magazine Ltd is published by Times Associates, registered Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 TimeAfrica Magazine - All Right Reserved. TimeAfrica Magazine Ltd is published by Times Associates, registered Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.