Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan podcast Biden administration tried to censor memes in surprise episode
Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan that the Biden administration tried to force him to censor a meme about the Covid-19 pandemic, and responded with a “brutal” retaliation when he refused.
The Meta chief said in a surprise appearance on the popular podcast that the White House would “call out our team and yell and curse at them” over social media memes.
“We actually got to the point where we thought, no, we’re not going to tear down things that are true,” Zuckerberg said. “That’s ridiculous.”
Specifically, the billionaire said he wanted Biden to remove a meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at a TV, apparently from the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The meme, he said, joked about how “in 10 years you’ll see an ad saying if you take a Covid vaccine you’ll be eligible for a payment” in “some kind of class action lawsuit.” meme.’
After being told to remove the meme, Zuckerberg claims he and his team responded: “No, we’re not, we’re not going to remove the humor.”
‘Did you record those telephone conversations? God, I want to listen,” Rogan chimed in.
Zuckerberg’s appearance on the podcast is the latest in a series of public statements the social media mogul has made in recent months about censorship, including a shocking admission in August that he was “pressured” by the Biden administration to comply with their demands to fulfil.
Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan that the Biden administration tried to force him to censor a meme about the Covid-19 pandemic in a surprise appearance on the popular podcast
The Meta chief said the White House would ‘call out our team and yell and curse at them’ over social media memes
Zuckerberg said Biden wanted him to remove a meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at a TV, apparently from the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
As is typical of Rogan’s podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, the comedian did not announce Zuckerberg’s appearance early before publishing it Friday afternoon.
The interview quickly racked up more than 200,000 views in less than 45 minutes on YouTube, with some of Rogan’s interviews reaching large audiences, such as his 53 million-viewer episode with Donald Trump two months ago.
In Friday’s episode, Zuckerberg said a turning point came in his approach to censorship under Biden when the president publicly said that social media memes that challenged his pandemic narrative were “killing people.”
“All these different agencies and branches of government just started investigating and going after our company,” he said.
“It was brutal, brutal.”
Rogan said the demands were clearly a “huge overreach” by the federal government, adding, “And you weren’t killing people either.
“The problem with all of this is that they have suppressed so much information about things that people should do, regardless of whether or not you believe in the vaccine.”
Rogan appeared baffled by Zuckerberg’s claims about the Biden administration’s ‘brazen’ approach to censorship during the pandemic
Zuckerberg claimed that as soon as he acceded to Biden’s demands, “all these different agencies and branches of government just started investigating and coming after our company.”
Rogan, who has been an outspoken skeptic of the Covid-19 vaccine, appeared baffled by Zuckerberg’s claims about the Biden administration’s “brazen” approach to censorship during the pandemic.