The White House pressured Facebook to censor a viral video posted by Tucker Carlson in 2021 alleging adverse side effects in one brand of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Email correspondence, released in a lawsuit leveled by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri accusing the Biden administration of collusion with social media companies, expose that White House officials had a phone call with Facebook representatives to develop an action plan for Carlson’s content.
After a phone call between the two parties, Facebook confirmed to White House director of digital media Rob Flaherty that it demoted the video by 50 percent, pending a 7-day fact-checking period. Facebook promised in April that it would “continue to be demoted even though it was not ultimately fact checked.”
The social media giant initially resisted the White House’s hounding to remove Carlson’s video, ruling that it did not violate its policies because the subject was the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which studies found had yielded some health complications.
“Regardless of popularity, the Tucker Carlson video does not qualify for removal under our policies. Following the government’s decision yesterday, we are allowing claims that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine causes blood clots, but we still do not allow categorical claims that it or other vaccines are unsafe or ineffective,” Facebook wrote to former Biden White House senior advisor for Covid-19 response Andy Slavitt.
Following a safety review, the FDA and CDC lifted their recommend pause on the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, but then later announced strict limits on its emergency use authorization for people 18 and older in May 2022. The FDA said it made the change because of the risk of a rare and dangerous clotting condition called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) that some patients contracted after receiving the shot.
Facebook attempted to appease Slavitt by pointing out that Carlson’s video was not being recommended to users and was labeled with a link to authoritative Covid-19 information, which stated, “Covid-19 vaccines go through many tests for safety and effectiveness and then are monitored closely.” Flaherty shot back that “the second half of the segment is raising conspiracy theories about the government hiding that all vaccines aren’t effective.”
The White House officials warned that Facebook’s willingness to permit content they deemed problematic could be politically dangerous. “Not for nothing but last time we did this dance, it ended in an insurrection,” Flaherty wrote, referencing the role that social media played in the January 6 Capitol Riot.
“Throughout our case, we have uncovered disturbing collusion between Big Tech and Big Government,” Attorney General Landry, who’s involved in the joint-state litigation against the government. “Today’s reveal is yet another example of the ongoing coercive efforts by the White House to pressure social media companies into censoring American citizens.”