Facebook Suppressed Hunter Biden Laptop Story After FBI Warning

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview released Thursday that Facebook suppressed the New York Post's report about Hunter Biden's laptop after the FBI warned the tech giant about misinformation. Asked by podcast host Joe Rogan about Facebook's approach to the Hunter Biden report, published in October 2020, Zuckerberg said, "The background here is the FBI, I think, basically came to us ... 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.

We have it on notice that basically there's about to be some kind of dump ... that's similar to that." The Meta CEO contrasted Facebook's approach with Twitter, which completely banned sharing the Post article. "The distribution on Facebook was decreased, but people were still allowed to share it," Zuckerberg said on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. noting that the social media giant was waiting on fact checkers to give a verdict on the report "So you could still share it.

You could still consume it " Asked by Rogan how significantly the distribution was affected, Zuckerberg did not give an exact figure, but said the impact was "meaningful." In the years since the Post's Hunter Biden articles, other news outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post, have reported[1] that emails from the laptop appear authentic.

"So the FBI preemptively warned Facebook off Hunter Biden laptop reporting," tweeted Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., adding: "This same agency effectively laundered Russian [disinformation] in the 2016 election in the form of Steele dossier. And later lied to a court to get wiretaps."

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[2]

-- Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 26, 2022[3]

Other Republican lawmakers also reacted on Twitter:

Mark Zuckerberg flippantly admitting that Facebook censored the TRUE Hunter Biden laptop story (supposedly at the request of the FBI) should alarm every American regardless of their political party. The truth matters.

Free speech matters. We deserve answers.

-- Rep. August Pfluger (@RepPfluger) August 26, 2022[4]

Update: Meta tweeted Friday that the FBI warnings were not specifically about Hunter Biden:

As we've said, nothing about the Hunter Biden laptop story is new.

Below is what Mark told Sen. Johnson in Oct 2020 and what Mark told Joe Rogan this week. The FBI shared general warnings about foreign interference - nothing specific about Hunter Biden. https://t.co/pHtzvh6r0r[5]

-- Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) August 26, 2022[6]

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References

  1. ^ have reported (nypost.com)
  2. ^ https://t.co/wrD01hSbFe (t.co)
  3. ^ August 26, 2022 (twitter.com)
  4. ^ August 26, 2022 (twitter.com)
  5. ^ https://t.co/pHtzvh6r0r (t.co)
  6. ^ August 26, 2022 (twitter.com)
  7. ^ [email protected] (www.dailysignal.com)

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