In a recent interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, Mark Zuckerberg reflected on Facebook’s approach to content moderation during critical moments in recent history, particularly the declared COVID-19 pandemic and the 2016 and 2020 elections. While Zuckerberg admitted to mistakes and government pressure, his casual tone and lack of accountability starkly contrast with the devastating real-world consequences these decisions have caused.
As the founder of GreenMedInfo.com, I know firsthand the impact of these policies. Facebook and Instagram deleted our pages and my personal professional accounts, erasing over one million followers simply for sharing truthful, well-sourced information about the risks and harms associated with mRNA vaccines. We warned the public early on about the potential dangers, citing credible sources, including FDA documents revealing serious conditions and even deaths linked to these vaccines. This unilateral action not only stifled free speech but also robbed countless individuals of the opportunity for informed medical choice and consent. Many were left without access to critical information, resulting in preventable injuries and, tragically, lives lost. Were it not for grassroots health freedom organizations like Stand For Health Freedom (which I co-founded back in 2019), millions would have been further deprived of life-saving information without which informed medical choice and consent is not possible. Meanwhile, the narrative that justified these actions—such as the Disinformation Dozen report—has been exposed as deeply flawed and misleading, as we’ve outlined in detail. This suppression of independent voices, like ours, underscores the real disinformation crisis and its devastating consequences for public health and trust.
Zuckerberg’s acknowledgment that Facebook deferred to government demands to censor content—even when that content was truthful—validates what many of us have long suspected, and which we reported on here two years ago. He described how the Biden Administration pressured his company to suppress discussions of vaccine side effects and other inconvenient truths. Indeed, President Biden himself accused me and those put on CCDH’s list as “killing people with misinformation.”
These revelations are chilling when juxtaposed against the real consequences of these actions. For instance, GreenMedInfo.com’s removal not only silenced a robust community dedicated to health freedom but also contributed to the broader suppression of dissenting voices during a time of unprecedented medical experimentation.
What is most alarming about Zuckerberg’s comments is the lighthearted manner in which he discussed these decisions. Describing life-altering censorship policies as a "slippery slope" or a "pressure test" diminishes the catastrophic fallout for the individuals and communities impacted. For many, this was not merely a misstep—it was a violation of their right to access diverse perspectives and make informed choices.
The removal of GreenMedInfo.com’s pages stemmed from flawed methodologies and sensationalist reports, such as the now-debunked Disinformation Dozen by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Despite clear evidence that the report misrepresented data and methodology, its narrative was weaponized by media outlets and policymakers to justify censorship campaigns that marginalized independent voices like ours.
While Zuckerberg now claims a commitment to "durable" content moderation policies and a renewed focus on free expression, these admissions come too late for the millions of people harmed by past actions. The acknowledgment of mistakes is a step in the right direction, but without accountability or reparations, these words ring hollow for those of us who suffered irreparable damage to our platforms, businesses, and communities.
At its core, this issue transcends any one platform or policy. It strikes at the heart of what it means to live in a free society, where individuals have the right to access information, make informed decisions, and hold those in power accountable. The stories of platforms like GreenMedInfo.com, silenced under the guise of combating "misinformation," must serve as cautionary tales in this broader fight for digital freedom and health sovereignty.
Zuckerberg’s casual acknowledgment of past missteps must not be the end of this conversation. It is a call to action for us to demand transparency, justice, and meaningful safeguards to prevent such abuses of power in the future. Let this be a turning point where the voices silenced by censorship are not just acknowledged but amplified.
For more on our journey and the critical issues at stake, visit the following:
Facebook Deletes GreenMedInfo.com’s Page with Half a Million Followers
GreenMedInfo Deleted from Instagram and LinkedIn—Facebook Next?
Now is the time to reclaim our digital voices and the right to question, explore, and share ideas freely. This fight is far from over.
Here’s a transcript of the video above, provided by the great work of Vigilant Fox.
ZUCKERBERG: “I still think it’s good for more people to get the vaccine… I think that they [the government] had a kind of goal that they thought was in the interests of the country. And the way they went about it, I think, violated the law.”
ROGAN: “Well, there’s a bunch of problems with that, right? There’s the emergency use authorization that they needed in order to get this pushed through. And you can’t have that without valid therapeutics being available. And so they suppressed valid therapeutics. So they’re suppressing real information that would lead to people being healthy and successful in defeating this disease.
“And they did that so that they could have this one solution. And this was Fauci’s game plan. I mean, this is the movie Dallas Buyers Club. That’s Fauci in that movie. That was with the AIDS crisis. This is the exact same game plan that was played out with the COVID vaccine.
“They pushed one solution, this only one, suppressed all therapeutics through propaganda, through suppressing monoclonal antibodies, like all of it. And that was done, in my opinion, for profit. And they did that because it was extremely profitable. The amount of money that was made was extraordinary during that time.”
Full episode via Joe Rogan:
Below are six more of the most powerful quotes from the interview.
On Government Pressure to Censor Content:
"I think it was two main events that really triggered this. In 2016, there was the election of President Trump, also coincided with basically Brexit in the EU and sort of the fragmentation of the EU. And then, in 2020, there was COVID. And I think that those were basically these two events where, for the first time, we just faced this massive institutional pressure to basically start censoring content on ideological grounds."
"During COVID, especially during the Biden Administration, they tried to roll out the vaccine program, and they also tried to censor anyone who was arguing against it. They pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly true."
Specific Examples of Government Requests to Remove Content:
"They wanted us to take down this meme of Leonardo DiCaprio looking at a TV, talking about how 10 years from now you're going to see an ad that says, 'If you took a COVID vaccine, you're eligible for this kind of payment,' like a class action lawsuit type meme. And they’re like, 'No, you have to take that down.' We just said, 'No, we're not going to take down humor and satire. We're not going to take down things that are true.'"
"People in the Biden Administration would call up our team, scream at them, and curse. These documents are all kind of out there... They wanted us to censor posts about vaccine side effects, which are true."
Reflection on Censorship Policies:
"I kind of think like after having gone through that whole exercise, it was something out of like 1984 or one of these books where it’s just like—it really is a slippery slope. And it just got to a point where it’s like, okay, this is destroying so much trust, especially in the United States, to have this program."
"I feel like in retrospect, I deferred too much to the kind of critique of the media on what we should do... And since then, I think generally trust in media has fallen off a cliff."
Acknowledging Mistakes and Revising Approach:
"Looking back, we deferred to the government on some of these policies that, in retrospect, I probably wouldn’t, knowing what I know now. And I just think that’s sort of the journey that we’ve been on."
"The biggest set of issues we have is the mistakes we’ve made—where our classifiers [for content moderation] were set too low in precision. That led to accounts being taken down wrongly, or people being flagged for violations when they weren’t actually doing anything harmful."
Government Influence and Free Speech:
"I mean, there’s all this stuff about what people talk about—the First Amendment and that these tech platforms should offer free speech like the First Amendment. But the First Amendment doesn’t apply to companies. The First Amendment applies to the government—it’s about what the government is not allowed to censor. So at some level, I do think having people in the administration calling up the guys on our team and yelling at them, cursing, and threatening repercussions if we don’t take down things that are true is pretty bad."
"For me, it’s less about retribution or justice for the people who did this, and more about ensuring this doesn’t happen again."
Impact of Censorship Decisions:
"During COVID, we faced massive institutional pressure. And even though we didn’t take down true things, we did defer to the government on some things that led to a slippery slope."
"At this point, we’re trying to rationalize our policies and ensure we avoid repeating those mistakes. I think that’s going to be durable going forward."
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